


Danny Phantom x Marvel Drabbles

by Triangle_Goddess



Category: Danny Phantom, Marvel (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Most of these are requests on tumblr
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-02-22 12:19:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 75
Words: 88,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13166784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triangle_Goddess/pseuds/Triangle_Goddess
Summary: These are all literally just drabbles from my blog on tumblr. Every single one is a crossover between Danny Phantom and the Marvel Universe





	1. Not Again!

**Author's Note:**

> Lit

The Sorcerer Supreme hadn’t ever played around with the idea of ghosts actually existing until he became, well, a sorcerer. It was such a contraversial issue that he would have scoffed at a few years ago. But recently spirit activity had elevated. Not just in America but everywhere. There was a spirit haunting Wakanda, and another somehwere in the mountains. He sensed them in plains and labs and the skies. But most of all he sensed a whole other realm, full of ghosts of all sizes, ages, and colors. The first one he met was Dora, with a nice blue dress and the amulet he had been looking for. Needless to say, he let her keep it. He could always find another dangerous, magical artifact. The next one he had met was Undergrowth, when he thought the temple in Tibet was a good place to start infecting people with his plant powers. He left of his own free will, complaining about how cold he was.

He had had more encounters, and with each new one he gained more information. Like learning there was a King, Pariah Dark, who was incapacitated. Then about the ones called Halfas, and about the master of time and the council with their one eyed observants.

He knew who Pariah Dark was, though. And this much uneasiness he felt in the land of the dead, well, it did not sit well with the good Doctor.

So he decided he was going to help the poor souls.

He focused on the incantations softly passing his chapped lips as he levitated a good foot off the ground. The summoning circle around him glowed, and the candle flames whipped and grew, but never went out until Strange finished the incantation. When he opened his eyes again, they were blazing, but quickly turned to confusion.

There was no way the great and powerful Pariah Dark could be so…Small…

He had a rat’s nest of snowy hair and toxic green eyes that starred directly at Doctor Strange, seemingly looking into his soul. But instead of lashing out, the lanky spirit jusy groaned, more out of annoyance than anything.

“Ugh! Again? Come on, man, I have an algebra test I need to study for,” he whined. He sounded young, but Strange didn’t let that fool him. He could feel the power ebbing off of the young looking spirit, his energy flowing like Niagara Falls. He crossed his arms over his chest, annoyed as his legs turned into a wispy tail. He floated up to Strange, who stayed right where he was.

“What’s the big deal? You a cultists or whatever? Sure kinda dress like one…”

“I am Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme,” the Doctor said calmly, “And I summoned you here to end you, Pariah. You have been-”  
He never got to finish that introduction.

“Wait, wait, wait. Hold up. I am not Pariah Dark. He was beaten just last week and stuffed back into his dumb sarcophagus.”

Oh. This was…well this was unexpected. But it did somewhat explain the algebra thing. But if Pariah Dark is locked up again, who beat him? And how? He wasted no time in voicing these questions.

“Who beet him? Well…Me…” the spirit looked almost shy now as he shrugged and refused to make eye contact. “Last week, actually.”

“Then where is your Ring of Rage and Crown of Fire?” Strange questioned. Whosoever defeats the king shall become the king, along with inheriting the fine jewelry that gave him an unforgiving power.

“Oh…uh…locked away?” The snow haired child rubbed the back of his head, sounding almost unsure of himself.

“But if you beat him, you’re supposed to have them. Then they become ruler of the Ghost Realm.”

“Dude, I’m fourteen. I’m not even a full ghost. I’m a halfa. There’s no way they’re gonna let me be king. Now, please, can I just go back to studying?”

Perhaps he would have to ask Dora about the so called Halfa. For now, however, he would return this boy to his home. With a flick of his wrist he was gone, the candles has became bright and flaming once more, and the circles glow had died down to nothing but carvings in the floor.

So the ghosts were excited, not uneasy. They had a new king. A child at that.

How very…Strange.


	2. A New Home

Danny didn't know what he was doing.

In general he typically didn't know what he was doing at least half of the time. But this...Well, this was way different. After the Guys in White took everything from him-his home, his room, his friends, his family-he didn't have anywhere to go. Except for one place in New York that Sam had pointed out to him, a place he could stay for the summer to maybe help him with his powers.  
Sam...It hurt him down to the core, thinking of her silky, black hair and lavender eyes...Her sweet smile and a laugh that was heroine to him. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that she was gone.

Now that he was looking down at the large, old fashioned mansion he realized that he probably should have called them, get enrolled and all that. But it had slipped his mind when he had just barely gotten out of the GiW's grasp.

He landed in front of the large, iron gates and read the plaque that was right under the intercom.

"Xavier' school for Gifted Youngsters..." he muttered, shifting his backpack on his shoulder, wincing at the pain in his arm from one of the ectoguns that managed to hit him.  
He was still looking at the plaque, working up the nerve to press the little red button, when the gates opened by themselves. Nobody was coming through, car or otherwise, so Danny took that as a sign that the dramatic entrance was for him. The driveway was long, and he hurt everywhere, but he couldn't risk these people finding out about his powers. He didn't know if they would be okay with them or if they'd treat him like the Guys in White had.

The driveway was long, and with how beat up he was, it seemed even more so. Thankfully he didn't look like trash off of the sidewalk. He cleaned up a little bit using a Denny's bathroom before flying part of the way over, and walked the rest. Flying was just to much at the moment.

After what felt like ages, he finally made it to the large double doors that held promises of safety and acceptance. In front of them was a bald man sitting in a wheelchair and a tall, African woman with white hair and soft eyes.

"Hello there, Mr. Fenton," the bald guy said as he clasped his hands together, "We've been expecting you."

Yeah, because that's not creepy, Danny's thoughts became more sarcastic the more tired he got. At this rate his sarcasm would be permanent.

"Uh," he said instead. Wow, real intelligent. "Okay?"

"My name is Professor Xavier. This here is my friend, Ororo Monroe. Now come, we must-"

"-Wait-" Danny interrupted. Stupid. "I- e sighed, "I don't know anything about this place. My g-my friend said that if I ever needed to I could come here and maybe hang for a while."

"Ah, yes. Ms. Manson explained everything to us, and I assure you that you have nothing to worry about," the Professor replied.

"Really?" He was half hopeful and half skeptical. It was almost too good to be true.

Really.

Danny blinked once. Twice. Three times before he made eye contact with Xavier again. e gave Danny a sly smile.  
Is something the matter, Danny?

The Professor was in his head. He didn't even know how to react. He just stood there for a moment, standing stupidly on the stairs and ignoring the pain in his shoulder, as he tried to process the fact that he was so stupid.

Professor Xavier. Charles Xavier. And the plaque. They were all signs pointing to the fact that everybody in that mansion had some sort of power. Danny was just another stray. But if it meant warm food and a nice shower after a week and a half of lying around in his own filth, then he wouldn't mind being a stray. Just this once. Eventually he finally got his foot to move forward, following the two adults to through the halls, past large rooms with couches and chairs. There was even a piano in one of them, and then they passed the kitchen. (He would remember that for later.)  
Finally, they stopped at a bedroom, that was decked out in the standard arm colors that seemed to be all over the mansion. He kinda liked it though. And there was more than enough room for his NASA posters and glow-in-the-dark star stickers. Once he bought some new ones.

"This is your new room," Ms. Monroe said. The Professor was gone. "May I give you some advice?"

Danny shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

"Try not to sneak up on Logan."

And with a smile and a flash of her silky white hair, she was gone. By the time his brain caught up with him, she was already half-way down the hall.

"Who the hell is Logan?


	3. Yikes

"Uh, what are you doing?"

Danny didn't need to look up from his work to know that Tony was giving him The Look.

Since he had started living with the world famous heroes, he had grown accustomed to that look. Steve did his with a raised eyebrow. Natasha just stared at him. Clint and Wanda had most of their faces twisted into something that resembled confusion. And Tony had that, but like, a million times worse. Danny's goal was to make it permanent on the playboy's 'perfect' face.

"Absolutely nothing," he replied innocently.

It was only the same thing he had been working on for the past month. He was lucky to have inherited his parent's knack for technology. It wasn't on Tony's level, but one, he was only nineteen, and two, he did paranormal technology. Tony's was more based off of whatever the hell he wanted.

"What are you building? You know, in my lab, with my tools?" Oh, he sounded irritated. It made Danny chuckle on the inside.

"Something convenient," he answered with a shrug.

He could tell that he was pissing Tony off, and it kind of amused him. However, he was kind of surprised to see that he hadn't figured it out yet. He's seen the one at his parent's house. You don't see many octagons cut into the wall with the standard yellow and black striped border.

"Are you building one of those ghost portals?" Tony asked.

"What gave it away? The giant octagon in the wall or the blueprints I borrowed from my parents?" Danny lifted his mask and turned to Tony.

"Why? Why do we need two portals?"

"Because I can't go all the way back to Amity all the time, and ghosts are everywhere. I've been in the thermos, man, it's not comfortable. Despite my parent's beliefs, us ghosts do feel pain. Dude, my back hurt for like a month after being stuck in there. Clint has horrible aim when he doesn't have a bow in his hand, apparently."

"Actually, that was because you said his dog drawing looked like shit."

"Well, it did. But anyway, yeah it's for convenience. Plus I can get to visit Frostbite more often."

"Yeah...Okay...Well, I'm gonna go now. Just, don't break anything, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Danny waved him off. "Whatever."

Tony nodded and left, and as soon as he walked through the threshold he heard a huge crash, and a string of curses in Danny's ghost jargon.

Tony just kept walking.


	4. No-Nerve Danny

"Danny."

"Yeah?" Danny said, turning around. He was covered in ash and blood, both red and green. Clint gave him a confused look as Danny started to casually make himself a sandwich.

"My dude, listen. You gotta head to the med bay, man. You're gonna bleed out, super healing or not." And Danny could hear the unmistakable concern in Clint's voice, that he was actually worried.

"But I'm not bleeding," Danny said. The green flecks on his uniform were from punching people and splitting his knuckles open. He couldn't remember when he had been seriously injured in the fight against the Doom bot.

"Dude, do you even hear yourself? Look down man, you have a huge fucking hole in your side! How does that not hurt?!"

Danny, still thinking he was perfectly fine, looked down, and found that Clint was right. His uniform was shredded on his left side, and there was a rather large gash that was oozing out a mix of blood and ectoplasm. How had he not noticed that? How come he didn't feel the pain that should accompany it? His throat went dry with anxiety.

"What? When did that happen?" He asked. Clint out a hand on his shoulder and started leading him away, pinching Danny's neck as he did so. There was no reaction. He didn't even blink. Just kept a confused   
look on his face.

"Did you feel that?" He asked.

"Feel what?"

"Nothing. Let's just get you patched up."  
-

"...and then he just started making a sandwich! Like he wasn't leaving behind a trail of his insides on the floor! Can you believe that? He said he didn't feel a thing!"  
Bruce raised an eyebrow as he pushed his glasses up.

"Atually, it all makes sense now. Why Danny is able to last so long in a fight, why he never had a reaction when Tony pokes him. And the accident that gave him his powers. He probably can't feel pain at all. When he described it to me he said he was "electrocuted with an ass ton of ectoplasm that could probably power half of Amity." The electrocution probably severed his nerve endings."

"...If that's the case then how come he hasn't noticed?" Clint asked, crossing his muscular arms over his chest.

"Have you met Danny?"


	5. Recruitment

Clint fingered the string of his bow nervously. Fury had seen something in him that Clint wasn't even aware that he had. Sometimes he hated that annoying personality trait where he didn't like people but he was good with them. Somehow always making the right call even though all logic said otherwise. With Natasha, Wanda, and hell, he hadn't even known who the hell Scott Lang was until Sam had called him, asking him to go pick up "Tic-Tac." For some reason this felt like one of those times.

He had briefed himself on this 'Phantom' kid on the way over. Media both loved and hated him. He also had a horrible media name-Inviso-Bill. And, while it made him laugh, you'd think they would be able to come up with something better than that. The reports go back to a few years ago, and it was amazing to see the progress and growth in the young boy. He went from a scrawny dweeb just flailing around to a semi-muscular hero in just the span of a few years without any training whatsoever. And, according to his files, he saved the world. Or, at least Amity Park that is.

All he had to do was wait. Which, given that he had a lot of patience when it really counted, was really no issue at all.

Especially if your target wasn't all that stealthy...

He hopped from one rooftop to the next, going straight for the explosion that erupted from a local hangout called the Nasty Burger. It wasn't hard to spot Phantom, with his stark white hair and intoxicating green eyes that reminded Clint of acid. They looked like they could see right through him. And who knew? Maybe that was a possibility.

Thankfully his outfit choices had grown with him. Instead of the black and white spandex, he wore a black shirt similar to Clint's material and style wise, with a green trim that matched his eyes. is pants were obviously armored but they were made to look like a pair of black cargo pants. His boots were still white, an he had ditched the long Cinderella gloves for some white fingerless gloves. He had a slim vest on over everything, that somehow made the green D logo on his chest stand out more.

Clint watched from his perch as Danny threw up a hand to shield a green energy blast, looking almost bored with his attacker.

"Come on, Skulker," Phantom said. "You've been going on about how you're gonna mount my hide on your wall for years, and have you ever come close?' Phantom said it in such a mocking, condescending tone Clint almost wanted to hit him. The only reason he didn't was because he was laughing as well. So the kid had a mouth. Clint smirked as he knocked an arrow, prepared to pull back his string if he had to.

But he didn't.

Instead, he watched as Phantom blasted his attacker. After that, he went to the large silver man and took the tiny green blob from his suit. Clint watched in awe as Phantom opened up a portal of some sort, large and full of green swirls that were almost hypnotizing. He threw the little green blob in and blasted the suit, permanently destroying it. Clint stood and walked forward, arrow still on his string, but a sort of unique laziness tot he way he held it, and to the way he walked.

"Hey, there," he said casually as he walked up to the boy before he could quite literally disappear. Phantom stopped in his tracks, tensing up greatly at the sight of Clint. He pulled his hood up, hiding his bright hair and tan complexion, but not his piercing eyes or the white glow that seemed to never leave him.

"Who are you?' He demanded. Clint had to readjust his hearing aids or something. Anything to get rid of that annoying echo-y sound he heard whenever the kid spoke.

"My name is Clint Barton. Also known as Hawkeye. Don't worry, I'm a good guy like you." Clint smiled warmly at the kid, but Phantom just gave him a weary look.

"What do you want from me?" he asked.

"Have you ever heard of the Avengers?"


	6. I Can't Keep Fighting Like This

Danny rested his head on his knees and wrapped his arms around himself protectively. Despite being almost 6′6″, he felt incredibly small. Especially sitting there in a private, closed off room with Sam Wilson.  
Sam was a great guy, and Danny absolutely loved him. This was nothing to do with Danny;s feeling towards Sam. No, this was about Sam trying to get Danny to recognize the feelings towards himself.

Being a superhero had more than just its ups and downs, especially at such a young age like Danny. Everybody Avengers struggles with it, whether they realize it or not.

"Danny," Sam said softly, wanting to place a comforting hand on Danny's head, but thought better of it. "It's okay."

"I…" Danny's muffled voice was weak, and Sam had to strain to hear him. He brought his head up, and his eyes were glassy and red. His left hand clutching his chest and the other somehow got tighter around him. He sniffled.

"I can't keep fighting like this, Sam," he said. "None of it works. The workouts, the crime fighting, the therapy, the medicine. None of it works. Not even sticking my head in the freezer can make me feel better."

It was a poor attempt at a joke. They both knew it, and Sam didn't have to say anything to persuade Danny to keep going. It was like a dam in Danny's head, in his heart, had opened, and now the never-ending flow of emotion was drowning the whole room. Sam could feel the energy Danny was unintentionally giving off from his aura.

"T-they cut me open-n," the tears were big and quickly streaming down his face. The look in his eyes were…Desperate, Sam decided. Desperate for his parents to have stopped, desperate for acceptance and love, desperate for peace. Sam could somewhat relate.

"I y-yelled at them to st-stop and they didn't. They didn't care! They just cared about my insides. Once they found out I was half-dead I knew I was fully dead…" his voice became a soft whisper. The dark circles under Danny's eyes seemed to grow, and he became smaller once more as he closed in on himself even more, his shoulders shaking with his quiet crying.

Danny peeked his head up so he could just barely make eye contact with Sam. His tears were hot and uncomfortable, and he felt shame on top of the depression for not being strong enough to hold them in. His chest clenched, and he wanted to scrub his skin past raw with the feeling that came with it. The phantom scalpel that was tipped with ectoranium forcing its way through his skin. There were no pain killers. No sleep. No comfort. No food. No water. Only pain. So, so much pain. So much pain that all Danny wanted to do was-

"-Danny! Hey, clam down, man, you're here. At the compound. You're safe, man."

It took Danny a second to realize that he was on the ground, and his normally almost-too-slow heartbeat had quickly sped up to an almost normal heartbeat. Sam was looking over him, concern in his big, brown eyes.

Those eyes were one of the things Danny liked about Sam the most. Because his eyes just knew, even if they didn't really know. They showed empathy and recognition, almost as if Danny's feelings were valid. But most of all, Danny loved how there wasn't a lick of pity in them. How got it from everybody-Steve, Bruce, hell even Natasha sometimes. But he's never, not once, gotten a pity look from Sam. Because Sam understood what it was like to be hurt by the ones you loved. He knew what it was like to deal with the war going on in his head. Danny would never have the words to truly express how thankful he was for that.  
Once Sam got him back in the chair, e too sat himself down in the same spot he's had every Tuesday and Friday for the past two weeks.

"Listen," he said, "I know you probably feel like you need to be stronger. But trust me on this, Danny, this is a sign that you've bee strong for to long. It's okay to just sit down and breathe, let your mind wander, draw a picture and come back to face it another day. It's okay to not be okay."

Somehow Sam;s words made sense to Danny. Made him feel better. Made his feelings valid, which has been something he's seriously been lacking in the past eight months.

"What do you want to do?"

Danny looked up sharply, wiping away the tear streaks. "…What?"

"What do you wanna do?" Sam repeated, bouncing his leg casually.

"I…I don't know…Like…Sleep, maybe eat. Maybe kick Clint's butt at DOOM again. I just…why do you ask"

"Because I think it's high time Danny did something Danny wanted to do. Now go, get on out of here. Go do what Danny wants to do, and nothing else."

Danny was somehow able to manage a genuine smile-what felt like the first in years. Then he nodded.

"Yeah…I think so, too."


	7. Sometimes it Rains in the Clocktower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is based off of a piece of fanart done by promsien on tumblr

The trick with time is, Clockwork thought, I can see all the paths it can go, but I will never know which one will be chosen. He floated there in front of his large screens of the never ending footage of the universe. With recent tragedies in Amity Park, Clockwork had taken a little more time out of his day to check up on the young Halfa. In normal time, it had been about seven months since he Amity Disaster that the GiW had caused. He had seen many, many paths, and still more, that Daniel could go through.

One that always hung in the back of his mind was similar to what led up to Dan. Slightly different, but either way it ended with Daniel dying. Mostly by his own hand, sometimes by Vlad's, sometimes by the both of them. He would never admit it, but that was always the one that hit Clockwork the hardest. Given his time, Daniel would make an excellent king with a kind heart but he needs to learn a few lessons first, make a few friends, maybe have kids if he so chooses...But Daniel taking his own life...He couldn't bear the thought.

He closed his glowing eyes, and refused to acknowledge the tears that started falling from his worn eyes. He saw so many things go wrong and there was nothing he would be able to do to prevent any of them. All he wanted to do was keep the boy safe. The Halfa felt almost like an apprentice. A rather stubborn, bullheaded one, but his apprentice all the same. Except for the fact that he wasn't.

Luckily, for every bad path there was one that showed promise. Clockwork saw Daniel going through a natural portal and meeting a woman in red, white, and blue, who was with another man wielding a glowing, green ring. He saw him traveling through time, working with his world's Steven Rogers and the Howling Commandos. But what made him smile the most as he cried was what he was up to now.

The sixteen year old had grown. Had made peace with his loss. He now had many friends, including Steven Rogers, but also Anthony Stark and Natalia Alionova Romanoff, and an aspiring scientist by the name of Bruce Banner. He watched the screens as Danny met up with a few mutants, old friends reuniting while making new friends at the same time, all in a single breath. He saw Doctor Strange teaching him to meditate, and to control the emotion that tied into his powers like a finely stitched suit.

There was a loud bang far off in the distance, and he didn't have to look at the screen to know who it was. Clockwork wiped his eyes and schooled his face as he shifted from a child to a young, strong man.

"Yo, what's up, Stopwatch?" The all too familiar voice of Daniel rang through his chamber.

"Daniel. James. It's nice to see you again," Clockwork replied smoothly. He turned around to find the grinning, green-eyed Halfa floating around a stringy-haired man with a large, metal arm. His face was perfectly schooled, but he had seen what time did to James Barnes more than anybody else. He knew James was a curious cat who was obsessed with science. He floated towards him.

"How do you know my name?" James asked in a hoarse voice.

"I, young man," Clockwork said with a smirk, "see everything. Your story is one of the most interesting compared to the boring life of a halfa." He didn't have to look at Danny to know that he was crossing his arms in a defiant matter. "I am Clockwork, Master of Time." He shifted from a young man to an old sod with a long, wispy Gandalf-beard. He smiled as he placed both hands atop his staff.

"So, what can I do for you boys?"


	8. It's Not Gay if He's Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is because I had a run in with some homophobes a while ago and it pissed me off so much I wrote about it.

Phantom watched with Wolverine as they waited. Stakeouts, needless to say, were Phantom's least favorite thing in the whole world (other than the Box Ghost). They were long and boring and only worked half the time. And, he didn't want to be mean, but the least Wolverine could have done before they left was take a shower. But noo, they had to leave now.

To pass the time, he played fuck, marry, and kill I'm his head. He would fuck Johnny Storm, marry Sam Manson, and probably kill…

"Kid, do you talk to yourself all the time? This is a stakeout, not internet dating," Wolverine harshly whispered at him. "Besides, if you're gonna fuck a dude make it Hawkeye."

"W-" he stopped there, unable to form coherent sentences. Wolverine hadn't even batted an eye about the comment. He was planning on eventually coming out to everybody but not like this. Finally, after a couple minutes, he found his bearings.

"Why Hawkeye?"

"Listen, I may be straight but I'm not blind. Good looking. Good heart. And there's no way he could miss."

"What do you mean he could never-oh…Oh! You're so gross!"

Wolverine just gave him a shit eating grin, chuckling to himself slightly. He would never admit it, but he had grown quite fond of the blubbering teen who's blushing green and trying to find the words to counter his lewd comment.

"But am I wrong?" He asked. Danny thought for a moment and then shook his head.

"No…How long have you known?" He sounded almost scared.

"Let's just say there's a betting ring on it, and I just won me a whole bunch of cash off of Stark. If he tries to pull the whole 'it's not gay if He's dead" thing again I'm gonna rip his arc reactor out myself."

"Huh. Who else thought found out I was gay?"

"Johnny Storm."

Wolverine couldn't remember a time when Phantom had gotten that excited.


	9. The Deadliest Flower

T'Challa had always taken great pride in knowing his flora. His father had taught him, on top of fighting, in case he ever needed to make a quick medicine or if he was lost and in need of food. But he hadn't ever realized that, what he grew up calling the Black Stems, because it was the only flower he had ever heard of that had a black stem.

Ever since he met the ghost child he had been learning a lot. Like now. Daniel was lying on the ground in the thick forest right outside Wakanda, writhing as the glowing, green rock was extracted from his stomach. Ectoranium, he had called it. Deadly to ghosts.

T'Challa was already forming his plan, knowing exactly what to get and where to find it to help the boy heal faster. He quickly ran around, finding all of the necessary herbs to make a sort of healing paste to apply over the wound before the bandages he had ready. Thankfully, with his speed and Danny's healing ability, he was able to find them before the boy bled out. Thankfully the other Avengers were on there way. They would be here soon. Hopefully Danny's attackers would have no such luck.

Danny was laying there, sweating in a large pool of his own green-red blood that seeped through his fingers. T'Challa quickly mashed his ingredients and applied a large glob onto Danny's wound.

Danny's back arched as he gave an unnerving cry of pain that chilled T'Challa to the bone. This was not at all supposed to be painful in any way. It was supposed to stop the bleeding and numb the wound so the victim didn't feel as much pain. However, with Danny the agony just seemed to grow. If the screaming didn't stop, they would be caught, and while T'Challa was perfectly capable of handling himself, he was outnumbered and outgunned-especially when he also had to protect Danny.

T'Challa pulled out more of the Black Stems, watching as Danny's eyes widened with fear. Despite the pain he must have been feeling he tried to scoot away from T'Challa. The Panther's eyes narrowed a he held the flower closer to Danny. He tried backing away again, but instead collapsed, shaking and sweating, looking a lot more paler than usual. Looking more...ghostly. It was scary.

T'Challa quickly realized his mistake and thrust the Black Stem away before peeling the paste off of Danny and throwing that way too. The writhing calmed down, and his screaming had gone down to groans and the occasional whimper.

"Hey, who brought the blood blossoms?"

It was the all too familiar metallic voice of Tony Stark, all suited up and trampling over the Black Stems. Behind him was Falcon and his new ward, Spider-Man.

"Danny!"

Falcon was the first to respond, practically shoving T'Challa out of the way. He quickly cleaned up the wound with the materials from his suit, clearing away both the Ectoranium and black stem residue. Spider-Man held up one of the deadly flowers. Iron Man smacked it out of his hand and blew it up with a small blast from his palm.

"Those are blood blossoms, kid. Deadly to ghosts," he explained as he snuffed out the small flame with his large boot. T'Challa looked over at Danny. Color was already returning to his face.

"I'm sorry," he said. His voice ached from the sincerity and he hated himself for being so ignorant. "I wasn't aware of the effects they would have."

"Ah, Dan-Dan will be fine," Tony said, waving the other man off. "Isn't that right, Wilson?"

Falcon nodded as he stood up, gently carrying Danny bridal-style. He weakly gave them a thumbs-up before falling asleep, mumbling something under his breath as he became dead weight. Probably a bad pun or something. Falcon rolled his eyes, but didn't comment.

"See? And on top of that we took care of the bad guys; sent them off to Clockwork. Vampire dude and his pet birds won't be coming back for a while. Now come on," he held out a hand for T'Challa to take. "Let's go see that awesome kingdom of yours."

Behind him, Spider-Man coughed.

"Wow, worst tourists ever."


	10. Dear Dad

Danny had always known Tony had daddy issues. He never talked about him, and when he did his voice was tinged with bitter and hatred. Regret. Something else that Danny could never place.

But a few months ago he had met a ghost. Not as old as Clockwork, but not as young as Ember. He had green skin and short, white hair with a white goatee and blazing red eyes. Hot rod red. Danny immediately saw the resemblance, but he knew when to be quiet.

He, being the king and what not, was the second to greet him. The first had been Clockwork, because he was, well, Clockwork. Danny had quickly gotten to know the ghost, and right off he knew what this spirit's obsession was with the way he pulled little pieces out of thin air and put them together without really thinking. He was a tinkerer, a builder. A creator. When they had found his layer it was a giant gear instead of a door. It spun around, but inside was perfectly still, and the way in was the space in the very center.

He spent the next few months befriending this certain spirit. Learning about how he knew Captain America and Bucky Barnes, the infamous Peggy Carter and had met the love of his life, and had a beautiful son, Anthony. Tony for short.

Howard Stark spoke only kind words and regret when it came to his son. He talked about he would always push Tony away, even when he was a child, because his work was too distracting. Danny noted how he said that instead of too important. But Howard never loved Tony less.

In Tony's teen years they had never been farther apart. Tony should show off his own creations, and Howard would be too distracted to actually properly judge his son's masterpiece. The one thing he regreted, he told Danny once, was that he was never closer to his son. He regretted it most with the big fight they had before he left for the airport…Before he died.

Danny say and listened, never saying much as Howard quickly filled his layer with wild experiments and blueprints, his face often getting burnt aside from the area around his eyes from his goggles.

After almost six months, Danny took Howard away from his work and led him to the human realm, watching as Howard's eyes nearly popped out of his skill from how…Advanced everything had become since he had died. 30 years had been both brutal and kind to the present.

"Where are we going?" Howard asked, his voice echoing slightly. Danny shrugged.

"You'll see."

They flew around New York for a while until they finally spotted him above the Daily Bugle.

"Hey, Iron Man," Danny said.

"Hey kid," Iron Man greeted, his back turned to him. 

"What's up?" 

"Found a new friend."

"What?" Tony whirled around and froze. His helmet slowly, robotically receded to his neck, exposing his whole face which was full of shock, and in his eyes Danny could see the hurt. But also relief and disbelief. 

Howard's face was equally as shocked. All he could seem to do was stare at his son, taking all of him in. He didn't care about the shiny red suit he was in or the glowing circle in his chest. Only his son. He didn't realize he had moved until he had wrapped his arms around the cold armor his child was wearing. Tears streamed down his face as Howard's silk vest got covered in smudges from the recent grease and scorch marks on Tony's suit.

"…Dad?" He looked to Danny. 

"Did you do this?" Danny shook his head. 

"No, I-Clockwork greeted him and then I became his friend and, well, here we are. I figured it was time."

"How long?" Tony asked.

"Six months ish in normal time," he shrugged. "That's why I haven't really been around lately."

"Son, I'm so sorry…Im sorry I never gave you the acceptance and attention you needed when you were growing up. And I'm sorry about-" 

"-Dad, it's fine. I missed you too, believe it or not."

Danny almost didn't. Not with how he spoke about his father only caring about himself and the such. But he smiled anyway as he saw Tony almost tearing up. Almost. Which a startling laugh, Tony clapped a large, metal hand on Howard's shoulder and squeezed it. "Just wait till you see who else is still around, Pop."


	11. When Squirrels Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another tumblr prompt: Prompt involving squirrels

Danny had seen a great amount of odd things in his crime fighting afterlife, but never had he seen…squirrels…of all things, befriend him like this. He had been fighting…Skulker, maybe? He couldn't remember. 

But it had landed him stuck in a tree, tangled in all of the branches and whatnot with a squirrel making a nest in his hair.

It had already burrowed deeply into his shock of white hair, already using the tangled and unkeptness of it to it's advantage, and at this point he couldn't bring himself to really care. He just had to take care of Skulker. God knows he's still out there. He quickly phased through the branches, not quite processing that he probably needed to use his flight abilities as well, and fell to the ground on his stomach with an "-OOF!"

He could feel the squirrel in his hair, looking for things that weren't there and overall just being a minor annoyance.

When he looked up it was night, complete with the flashing lights and speeding cars of New York. Sometimes he almost wished he was back in Amity where nothing interesting happened at night except for the occasional visit from the Box Ghost. Here, though, it was all noise.

He stood up on wobbly knees. feeling every ache and cracking bone in his body, and made the smart decision too reached a hand up to his head, only for his head to harshly be jerked to the side by the squirrel. He put his hand back down and just figured he was going to have to let it be for now.

He flew back to the Tower, complete with the large, blue A near the top, and didn't even bother using the door. He just opened a window (the same one that Natasha liked to go through) and hovered in. 

Everything hurt, and he didn't know if he was going to be able to walk himself all the way to the couch. So he lazily hovered so low his toes touched the ground

Once he was there, he flopped down, falling asleep almost instantly if it hadn't been for the squirrel stuck in his hair. He quickly shifted his body sideways and had his neck resting on the armrest of the million-dollar-couch. If the squirrel moved again, he didn't know, because as soon as he got comfortable enough to sleep, he passed out.  
—–  
Danny opened his eyes to a bright, blinding light and a horrible crick in his neck without a lot of memory of how he got there. He yawned and stretched, and when he opened his eyes again he saw Clint, dressed in full gear, passed out with frozen pizza in one hand and his bow loosely in the other as he slumped over the armrest. Natasha was sitting in the chair next to the couch, softly petting a squirrel. 

Danny's hand instinctively went to his hair, finding no rodent tangled within it. He almost felt betrayed that the squirrel was being pet my Natasha, and then he remembered it was Natasha. If she pet you she liked you. So he let it slide just this once.

"Morning," she said without looking up.

"Morning," Danny mumbled back. He yawned again, and stretched again, not hurting as much as last night but still really sore. "How did you get it out?" He asked her.

"Easy," she shrugged. "A little snip snip here, a little snip snip there. It's not rocket science. But hey, you needed a new haircut anyway."

Danny's hands flew up to his hair in a panic, feeling his buzzed sides and long, unkempt middle of it. He almost didn't realize Natasha holding up a mirror until she almost threw it at him. He took it from her and looked at the clean lines and nice shave, and looked at the squirrel. She climbed up his arm and onto his shoulder when he held out his hand, and he rubbed her head affectionately.

"Looks like you are good for something, huh girl? I'm gonna name you…Ghost."

"Ghost?" Natasha shook her head. "You're so lame."


	12. Ghost Ducks?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The prompt was: Ghost ducks vs Winter Soldier

It all started out with coffee.

Bucky, like most of the other Avengers, lived off coffee and takeout. It was one of the simple pleasures in life, and like cheese, it got better with age. Especially now that they had coffee creamer and Starbucks. 

In the thirties it was black and bitter and the first time he tried it he wanted to spit it out. This stuff, however, was heaven in a Styrofoam cup.

The whole heaven thing stopped when he walked out of the subway station and into a flock of green ducks.

He didn't like ducks, but he didn't hate then either. As long as they minded their own business they wouldn't get shot. But these ones… well, lets just say he was ready to make an exception. Because these weren't your average green ducks. All of them were just… glowing green with beady red eyes that vaguely reminded him of the little squirt's nemesis, Plasmius. How Danny got a Twilight wannabe to hate him so much, well, that was still a bit of a mystery.

People who walked past didn't pay much attention, oddly enough. Just avoided them while they talked on the phone or tweeted about their new orange overlord.

"Come on," Bucky said, walking towards the flock of ducks. "Shoo! Go on, get outta here," his Brooklyn accent was unmistakable as he waved his arms at the waterfowl.

At that moment he knew he fucked up.

All of them seemed to share a brain as they flew clumsily toward him, latching their bills onto different parts of his body. They got his hand, two were on either leg, and their was one hanging from his metal arm, trying to get a better grip through the clothing.

If a little girl hadn't made eye contact with him when he dropped his coffee all over himself he would have started screaming bloody murder. There goes his little slice of heaven.

Every tine he pulled one off they would either turn intangible and his hand would go right through them or they would just fly back onto him. After almost ten minutes if this he gave up trying, and sulked his way down the sidewalk to the Tower, which was, of course, seven blocks away.

This is just like the time with the ghost hot dogs, Bucky thought bitterly.  
—-  
45 painstaking minutes later he walked through the front doors of the tower, ignoring the stares of Stark's staff, and brushing off Happy Hogan as he pushed his way into an elevator. It stopped twice on the way up, and both times the people who had needed on said they would catch the next one. It's okay though, he didn't want to talk to people anyway.

By the time he made it to the living room he was sure, so sure, that he was gonna make Clint more dead than their resident ghost boy. Because as soon as he walked through those nice, pristine, expensive doors, Clint was all over him like the ducks attached to his legs and arms.

He was cooing at them, acting as if they were so fucking innocent with their death grips and hatred of him for no fucking reason.

Barton the Dog Whisperer though could apparently talk to more than just dogs because with just a little bit of persuasion they had all come and followed him (and some bread he pulled out of nowhere) and curled up on the floor next to him, literally eating out of his hand.

"Are you fucking serious right now?' Bucky raised his voice in frustration, blowing some loose strands of hair out of his face.

Barton just shrugged and continued feeding them, and Bucky could swear one of them was laughing at him. Oh, if they weren't already dead…  
—–  
When Danny got home the last thing he expected to find was those loose ghost ducks curled up in Clint's side sleeping, while he was also sleeping, and a moody Bucky glaring at them from across the room tending to some nasty looking red marks on his legs. He glared at Danny and shook his head before going back to his legs without a word. Danny just shrugged and pulled out his thermos.

"So, what did I miss?"


	13. Cherry Blossoms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Spider-Man, Danny, Deadpool, and Nova go to Japan to visit the cherry blossom trees

Peter had never been so excited about a vacation in his life. He wanted to be cautious but ho could he when all he could think of were the beaches of Japan and the beautiful, stunning, exquisit-

"Hello, earth to Parker! You alive? You better be," Sam Alexander, AKA Nova said. "The only one who's allowed to be dead is him," he jabbed a thumb at Danny, who was currently occupying their stowaway, Deadpool.

Deadpool, once learning that they had a dead friend who's not really dead (makes perfect sense, right?) wouldn't shut up and he wouldn't leave Danny alone. If Danny hadn't learned how to get his temper under control (Thanks, Jazz) then he would have thrown Deadpool out of the window a long time ago. But thankfully there were some low key meditation things he could do to still pay attention but also keep his temper in check.

"Give me another reason why we're letting him stay," Peter asked, hoping for an actually god, legit reason that didn't involve how great Deadpool was.

"Do you know of any way of actually getting rid of him?" Sam countered. Peter thought for a moment, and shook his head.

"Point taken. But at least he won't be in our hair."

"I can hear you, you know," Danny griped.  
—–  
It was their third night in Japan, and they had seen so, so many sights. But one they all wanted to see, including Nova of all people, was the cherry blossoms. He would never admit it though.

"Hey, pssst, Dan-Dan. You awake?"

Danny wanted to groan into his pillow, but he couldn't for fear of waking up Peter and Sam. He turned around and glared at Deadpool, who had changed the red suit for some civilian clothing, hiding what he really looked like with a hood and some Hello Kitty sunglasses. But now though, in the dark room, his hood was down and his sunglasses were off. He probably thought Danny's eyesight was as bad as Fury's in this light, but he could see Deadpool's face clearly. The scars and crevasses and burns and just…Everything.

"What's up?" Danny asked, losing any previous fire he had. He sat up on his elbow and turned all the way over, letting his hair fall into his eyes without a care in the world.

"If you don't mind me asking…And you don't have to answer this if you don't want too…But how did you…You know…Die?"

There was the unmistakable concern Danny had heard so many times. And, for the first time that trip, he knew he could trust Deadpool with this information. But he still didn't even know the guy's real name.

"I'll tell you. But first you have to tell me your name," he whispered, a small smile on his face.

"It's…It's Wade…"

"Well, Wade, it was a lab accident. My parents were scientists and paranormal specialists and, well, something was bound to happen, right? They don't know, though. I…I can't tell them…"

"Oh…Okay. Night."  
—  
The next morning they acted like nothing had ever happened. The good news was, they didn't really have to try that hard. Because it was their last day in Japan, and they had one more significant place to be:   
The cherry blossom trees. With that on their minds it was easy to forget anything awkward that happened the night before.

Their long, dreadful walk had been cut short with a little ghostly powers thanks to Danny. And on a day like this, it was so worth it.

They were in full bloom, and the petals were swirling round and round with no care in the world. Pink filled their vision as they laughed and stared in awe at the natural beauty around them, at their feet, their very fingertips.

They stayed their for hours, munching on the sandwiches they had brought for lunch, and laughing at Sam getting some petals stuck up his nose.

They were so busy laughing that they hadn't noticed when Wade had put flower crowns made of cherry blossoms on their head, expertly woven and looking better than the store bought ones. There was a fourth one too, for him, but he didn't put it on. He just put it to the side and watched as the others marveled at their new head gear. Except Danny.

Instead of marveling at it like his peers, he grabbed Wade's as slowly took off his hood before placing the crown on his bald head.

"Hey, look at that, guys," Danny said with a heartwarming grin. "The flowers match his sunglasses."

Danny was grinning ear to ear, along with Peter and Sam.

 

"Looking good, dude!" Peter said, giving him a thumbs up. Sam nodded in agreement, unable to say anything with his mouth full.

"I think this is safe to say that this is the best spring break ever."


	14. Deadpool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Danny meets Deadpool

The night sky was bright with stars out in the desert. Granted, Danny was dying from the heat, but thanks to his ghost half he was able to hold out longer than most people. And since it was night, it was cold, which was a major comfort . The soft breeze surrounded him like a cozy blanket, making him feel more secure. And he's sure he would be able to sleep, just starring at the stars, if it hadn't been for one person who never seemed to shut up.

"Wade, come on, man, we gotta get back tomorrow. I can't fly from Nevada to New York running on empty," Danny said tiredly, rolling over at his singing friend. Deadpool just shrugged and started singing, but softer. Danny could still hear him clearly as day though. Then, after making eye contact with a tired, irritated Danny, he stopped. Danny let out a sigh of relief and rolled back over onto his back. He tucked his arms under his head and starred at the stars, appreciating the fact that he could see so many of them…Ever since he moved to New York after the Amity Disaster there wasn't a lot he could experience. The light pollution was to bad. But out here…He couldn't think of a better place to be.

"So, you know a lot about the stars, right?" Deadpool asked, taking off his mask and looking sincerely at Danny, who nodded his response, not bothering to make eye contact. No, if he did that he would have to take his eyes away from their busy task of tracing Perseus as he played out a valiant battle in his head, going over some sword strokes he had learned from Pandora in the Zone.

"Uh, yeah. I always wanted to be an astronaut, actually. I never got to though…" Danny held up a glowing, green fist, wondering why he was telling Wade all of this. They weren't friends, but then again they weren't enemies either. Something in between, but with more sarcasm and Mexican food. Okay, so they leaned a little more towards friends, but that didn't mean Danny trusted him with these kinds of things…

Deadpool, for the first time that night, was silent for more than a whole minute. Then he flopped down next to Danny. Close, but still far enough away to be considered platonic. Deadpool didn't want to invade the teen's personal space in a weird way. Obnoxious way, sure, but not the creepy way.

"I wanted to be a a firefighter or a police officer as a kid, you know? Something that would have made somebody proud. But after the military, I didn't want to fight, but I got too bored not fighting so I became a mercenary. I was going to settle down eventually, maybe find a real job…And then I got cancer. And ugly. I look like Freddy Krueger face fucked a topographical map of Utah, according to one of my friends."

Now that was an image he didn't need to see. But he wasn't wrong, either, and that small fact fucked Danny up.

"I just wanted to get away from the constant ghost hunting. I didn't even believe they were even real until I got turned into one." That was the first time Danny had ever admitted that. It felt nice to finally get that unknown weight off of his chest.

"The irony must have really hurt," Deadpool quipped.

"Yeah, no kidding," Danny laughed. It was weird, being totally relaxed. He hasn't felt this chill (hah) since before the accident. It was nice to just lay down and talk about whatever the fuck he wanted, not just ghosts and super villains. It was comforting, in a way.

They sat there for a little while longer in silence, but it wasn't the kind of silence where it felt like you had to say something. It was calm, and relaxing. Before he knew it, Danny drifted off into a restful sleep, and Deadpool protectively watched over him.

His friend.


	15. Hel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Hela!Danny

Daniel's eyes glowed bright as the newcomers entered his layer, uninvited. They were clad in bright costumes, walking around like they owned the place.

All except the eldest Odinson. Thor. The brother of the child that brought him back to life. And all to fulfill his goal of getting Hel on his side. Hel had kicked Loki out of his chamber without a second thought. Despite the man having brought him back to life when he was a normal human, he knew the massacres Loki had caused. Not just of Asgard, but of Midgard and Jotenheim as well. He would never let the silver tongue of Thor's younger brother persuade him. Hel showed Loki mercy, and that is the only repayment he will ever get for giving him life in his mother's womb.

If Loki comes back, Hel will not show the same mercy twice.

Thor, though, he heard had grown up, in more than just a physical way. He had matured when he had been banished to Midgard. Hel almost missed it, and occasionally visited as Daniel, but who had time for that when you were King of the Underworld.

He didn't stand as the approached his throne, green fire and smoke swirling around them as the Fright Knight stood guard at the foot of his throne, hand on his sword just in case.

"Lord Hel," Thor said respectfully, putting his right fist over his heart as he knelt. The others followed suit, but there was hesitation with the red one. He needed persuasion from the one in blue, and the woman with short red curls hiding her face.

"Stand," Hel said as he gracefully stood up, his staff reaching just above his head. He slowly walked down the steps to the newcomers, trying to make his hips stay in place instead of sway from side to side with the attitude and power that no longer felt right.

"Why have you come?' He demanded, looking them over.

"Why, Lady of the Underworld-" The red one was never able to finish as the Odinson lashed out at his comrade, covering his mouth and snarling at him, muttering about the disrespect he's shown.

"I am no lady anything," Hel replied stoically as he took Thor off of his red friend. "It is Sir Hel, to you, metal one. And I did not give you permission to speak." He turned back to Thor. "Now, I repeat my question. Why have you come?"

"My Lord, we were sabotaged by Loki and his minions. They threw us in here to keep us out of their way. They are invading Midgard as we speak. I beg of you, please let us return to the mortal plane."

"And why should I do that? You know how it works down here, Odinson. You will not leave until you prove you can do something for me. It's either that or I make you all fight to the death."

"What would please you, Lord Hel?" The blue one asked. He walked towards the tall, respectful man. A soldier, judging by his stance and the faint smell of gun powder. Stale but still there. He slowly reached his hand up and took off his mask, revealing a shock of blonde hair with bright blue eyes.

"Nothing you could give me, Steven. But perhaps the Thunderer."

"Anything you wish, my Lord," Thor replied immediately.

"I want your idiotic brother in my chamber. In return for your escape he will be sentenced to fight down here for the rest of his miserable life. He will not die, but he will not be free. And you would have to worry about him no more. He has cause great tragedies, and he must pay for that. Half the souls lingering about down here left the mortal plane to early. He has to face the consequences. If Odin can find a better punishment, he can retrieve your brother from me himself. In the meantime, go. Bring me the Odinson, and you will be truly free."

"Thank you, Lord Hel," Thor bowed respectfully as he laced a hand on his hammer, fingering the strap at the end.

"Do not thank me, Thor," Hel said, opening up a portal with a glowing hand. It was dark, and contrasted brightly with his white hair. "Just go."

And with that, they were gone, an uneasy pulling feeling inside of them as they left.


	16. Parker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: More Danny and Peter Parker!

"Listen here, punk," the giant blonde said as he pushed Danny against the lockers, "I run this school, and because of that I greet the newbies. And wanna know how I show my hospitality?" He asked almost threatening. Danny sighed, and was about to say something snarky with a roll of his eyes, but he never got the chance.

"Flash! Lay off, man! What happened to being nicer?"

Danny and Flash turned in unison to look at the scrawny brunette walking towards them. He shot an irritated glance at Flash before pushing him off of Danny.

"Sorry about him," the said. "He's still learning how to not be an asshole."

"I was just sayin' hi," Flash said unconvincingly.

"Uh-huh," the boy rolled his eyes. "I'm Peter. Peter Parker," he held out his hand and Danny shook it, surprised by how strong the boys's grip was. His appearance certainly gave him a different idea of what to expect.

"It's all good. At my last school there was a dude just like him. We became good friends… Eventually…" Danny shrugged and gave Peter an easy smile that didn't quite meet his eyes, Peter noticed.

Danny, needless to say, thought Peter was a pretty chill person. He needed some new friends now that he was at a new school because Steve just HAD to insist. But there was something almost off about Peter. Danny pushed it to the back of his mind to think about-or forget-later

Peter saw the way Danny's blue eyes flickered from door to door, and back to Peter. They stood out more with his dark hair and the bags protruding from under his eyes. Peter could kind of relate. With his nightly patrols and the occasional super villain on top of homework, he hardly slept nowadays. He was exhausted, but the tried not to let it show. For his aunt's sake.

"Well, I'll see you around, Peter," Danny said as he started walking down the hall (unknowingly in the wrong direction) with a wave over his shoulder.

"Yeah," Peter replied. "You too."  
—  
"FREEZE!"

Danny tensed up, immediately on guard. He really needs to stop spacing out on random buildings. He didn't even remember which one he was on.

He looked up at one of the less popular heroes. Spider-Man, he called himself. But there was something almost… Familiar about the way he talked… The way the sounded and carried himself. Even the crawling-on-the-wall thing was familiar.

"Who are you?" The Spider demanded.

"Name's Phantom," Danny replied, trying to ignore the oncoming headache from trying to figure out why this guy was so familiar. "Relax, I'm a good guy."

"Uh-huh. And how am I supposed to believe you?"

There. Danny finally made the connection. It's weird how a small, insignificant everyday sound that people make actually matters.

"Oh, come on, Parker, I thought we were friends," Danny casually said, almost laughing at the way Spidey tensed up. So the was right.

"Who's Parker? What are you talking about?"

"Dude, seriously? Your red headed friend was right. For as smart as you are, you're kinda slow."

Spidey could hear Mary Jane's voice in his head, clear as day. It was something she had said to him earlier that day while they were eating lunch.

Peter has never seen this guy before in his life, though. The toxic green eyes and shock of white hair were unfamiliar to him. But the bags… the messiness of the hair… the body language…

"Danny?"

"Man, I wish I could give you a prize for guessing right. Just don't tell anyone, yeah?"

"I won't if you won't."

"Deal."

"Sweet. So… Phantom?"

"Half ghost."

"Ah… Okay. Well, so you have everything here covered…?"

"Go home. Get some rest," Danny shood him off with a playful grin. The was glad the awkward small talk didn't last very long.

"Thanks. I'll see you at school!"

Danny almost laughed as he watched Peter just jump off the side of the building, doing a couple backflips before swinging away, looking more happy than Danny had seen him all day.

Peter deserves some rest.

I, he decided, can sleep when I'm dead.


	17. Technus?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Tony analysis Valerie's suit (after Technus upgrades it

"You look like a rip off of Vision. Red suit, bright green visor-gag-and-what are these? Leather? Hunny, you need a serious fashion upgrade."

Valerie gave Tony Stark a pointed look as she ripped her suit out of his grubby oil-stained hands.

"It just got an upgrade. The tech on this thing is better than anything you have in your dumb lab."

Tony feigned emotional distress by putting his hand over his chest and pouting.

"Rude. Very hurtful. I'm going to be crying to Pepper about it for a week."

"You're not denying it, though."

"Yeah, because, as much as it pains me to say this, you're right. The tech in the suit is years-centuries-beyond what we've learned now. Beyond my tech, beyond Bill Gates and our mutual ghost friend, beyond the Fentons. It's astounding."

"And you're drooling," Valerie added with a smug smile.

"Not the point. Point is, who hooked you up? Did Dan-Dan use the map thingy to fly you through space and time to get nifty little boots that are STILL a horrid fashion statement? Or did you and the Queen of Death go and borrow it from the Abominable Snowman?"

"Neither. And please, I wouldn't be caught dead talking to the Manson girl alone. Ever. I had help from someone who owed me a favor."

"And who would that be? Casper?"

"Technus. He actually stole the suit-my suit-from the future. It already had all of the upgrades. It was just sitting In a museum apparently."

"Wait-Technus?" Tony sounded appalled. "The same Technus that screeches out everything he's about to do and then gets the shit beat out of him? The same Tehnus that took control of all of my armors not three days ago?"

"Do you know any other Technus?"

"Fair point. Listen, I'll have Jar-Friday do a couple of tests on the tech later, make sure it's not infected with anything."

"Fine by me as long as there are no alterations. Red suits me."

"HA! It-its funny cause red suits you and-nevermind. Just get out of my lab."  
—-  
"Fenton! You owe me ten bucks!"

"What? Why?" Danny said through a slice of watermelon as the peaked his head over the couch. Valerie held up her phone and clicked and button.

"… As much as it pains me to say this, you're right," Tony's voice blasted through the small speaker, and Danny's face fell.

"Damn it," he whined. "I was gonna bribe Clint with that."


	18. Legends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I just really love Danny and Logna interactions, okay?

Logan had been around long enough to hear every legend that's been past down for who-the-fuck-cares. He's also witnessed the birth of several others. Ghost Rider, Captain America, Thor, and about twenty other tight-wearing supers out there in the world doing Odin knows what. Gods, aliens, it's all old news.

However, ghosts are new.

It was on old town in Illinois called Amity Park. Wildly known for being the biggest paranormal hot spot in the United States, and probably not worth the mutant's time.

That thought occurred to him several times before but it still didn't stop him from checking in to a motel and searching the town, digging up some research.

The Amity Ghost Kid (nicknamed Inviso-Bill) had been a long running story, turned and twisted by bloggers who didn't know what they were talking about. But a few things in the variations of the stories were consistent. There was a lab accident, an explosion, and now he was apparently some kind of poltergeist who refused to move on. Some say he was still living, some say he died in the lab accident, and some say he's both living and dead. The story's been around for about twenty years or so, according to the internet. He didn't doubt that some of it was true.

Despite the trouble finding the town, he had no trouble finding the old Fenton place. It was a tall, run-down building with a satellite looking thing on top and a giant neon green sign that said Fentonworks.

That sure was helpful.

He had left his bike back at the motel, and a part of him wished he had brought him and saved him the walk if it was nothing, but it was too late now. He walked up the old, broken steps and knocked on the door. Nobody answered, but when he tried the door knob it was unlocked. The door swung open with only a little resistance from the neglect over the years, and he stepped inside.

The first thing that hit him was the smell.

It was rotten and moldy and had an underlying scent of...He didn't even know.

He wandered through the house, and easily found the living room, the kitchen, and the bathroom. When he explored upstairs he found the master bedroom, a girl's room with an abandoned bed and a boy's room with NASA posters everywhere. There was something glowing green in the trash bin, so he went over to investigate.

They looked like some kind of...Bandages? Rags? They were torn and stained from the dust, but it had definitely been used to keep some kind of bodily fluid inside. It had that dull smell of the thing he couldn't identify earlier. There must have been tons of this green stuff everywhere. Or remnants of it, at least.

He slowly made his way back down the stairs and into the basement, where there was a lab.

A lab?

Dusty ray guns and tools were strewn everywhere, and his eyes almost started watering. This was the source of the smell. The green stuff that made it was everywhere. On the walls, the floor...Even the ceiling. On the far wall was a giant octagon attached to the wall, and he couldn't help but go check it out.

Now, when he had first entered the home it was the smell that hit him. This time he was pretty sure it was a frying pan.

He tumbled to the side, catching himself on one of the counters as he whirled around, his claws coming out of his right hand.

It was a well built adult with white hair and intoxicating green eyes that matched the shade splattered all over the walls. He was well built and tall, and would probably be an even match for Logan.

"Who are you?" The man asked, a frying pan in one hand and a glowing, green ball of energy in the other. It illuminated his face in an almost terrifying way. His voice was deep but had a tinging, echo-like sound to it.

"Are you Inviso-Bill?" Logan asked, straightening up a little bit. He may be short but he was still tall.

"You gotta be kidding me," he mumbled. The green energy dissipated and he set the frying pan on the counter, not appearing at all afraid of Logan's silver claws.

"Geez, Halloween isn't even for like, another six months! Why can't you guys just leave me alone?"

He brought his legs up and sat cross legged in mid air, looking at Logan expectantly. The shorter man sheathed his claws and straightened out the old leather of his jacket.

"So you're real," Logan said evenly.

"Obviously. Now, what do you want?" The spirit replied wryly.

"Just wanted to see what the excitement was about, Bub."

"Well, it's just me. Name's Phantom. Not that dumb media name they gave me forever ago."

"So you...You're a ghost?"

"Yeah. I used to be a halfa-both human and ghost-but then I died. Again. It was kinda rough, but I think it's safe to say that the first time hurt more. This was my home. These were my parent's cool inventions-which by the way were only cool when they weren't being used on me. They were ghost hunters and didn't know that I was the scrawny superhero running around and beating up other ghosts."

"What happened to them?" Logan thought maybe he killed them. If they hunted him, that would be plenty of reason to murder, right?

"Old ghost named Plasmius. He was going for dad, got mom instead, and then out of anger killed my father. He was obsessed with my mom. But with his obsession dead, he just kinda...disappeared overtime, I guess. I haven't seen him since. He was a halfa too. Vlad Masters."

"So, you're a ghost that hangs out in your dead parent's basement?" Logan asked. There was an implied joke there, but he wasn't going to take it further than that. Phantom chuckled to himself.

"Pretty much, but it's not like I've got anything better to do. The town thinks I'm a myth and I don't need to eat or sleep anymore. The Zone got boring a long time ago, and the politics there are all in order. Plus, it's nice sometimes, you know?"

Jesus, does this kid ever shut up?

Logan sat there letting the kid talk for a while. It was obvious he hadn't had any normal interactions with people in a long time. He talked all night about the Ghost Zone and Amity and his friends Sam and Tucker who had their memories erased so they didn't remember him, and about how he died the first time and got his powers and all of the different ghosts he fought. His sister was one of his favorite subjects to talk about, right up there with space, and his parents came up a couple times, but not much, really. He didn't tell Logan about his second death that made him full ghost, but he told him of his coronation.

Huh, Logan thought, It's not every day you meet a ghost king.

When Phantom finally stopped talking it was the break of dawn, and he looked kind of sad again.

"What's wrong?" Logan asked, leaning back to pop his vertebrate.

"You're leaving. It's morning, you should go back home. All you wanted to do was find a legend, right? Well, hell, he talked your ear off all night. You should go."

Phantom floated up towards the ceiling before doing a loop and headed towards the portal.

"You know, you could always come with."

Logan didn't know why he offered. He felt kind of sorry for the kid, dying at an early age and living alone for so long. His only friends either don't remember him or are dead. He was depressed and lonely being locked away in the ghost world and in the human world without something to do. Someone to protect.

The sentence made Phantom stop dead in his tracks.

"What?" he asked, flying back over to Logan. He looked calm and confused, but his eyes showed excitement.

"To the Xavier Institute. You can be a teacher or whatever. Save the world, all that good shit." Logan put his hands on his hips and waited patiently for an answer. But he hadn't slept in two days, and it was finally starting to get to him.

"Yeah," Phantom answered with a shrug, trying to be chill about it. "I mean, it's not like I have anything better to do."

"Good. That means you get to teach some of 'em how to drive."

Logan didn't think it was possible, but Phantom seemed to get three shades paler.

Logan just chuckled.


	19. Gradutaion

From his grades to his ghost fighting to hanging with the big time superheroes, Danny never thought he would make it.

Four long years and one big high school jump later and there he was, wearing a white robe and cap, his tassel on the right, and several cords hanging around his neck.

Danny not only was graduating, but he was in the middle of graduating at the top of his class, and as Valedictorian. He has scholarships from some of the most famous colleges in the U.S. and an internship at NASA. And the couldn't be more happier.

As the walked up to the podium to give his Valedictorian's Address, he looked out into the crowd.

They made sure they were easy to find. His parents in their jumpsuits. His sister in her best looking blouse and a huge, proud smile on her face. His best friends, Sam and Tucker were in white robes as well, waiting for their name to be called so they could get their diplomas.

Right behind his parents in the sea of people were the Avengers, a few of his friends from the Xavier Home, and Mr. Lancer, who has traveled all the way to New York just to see him graduate. He looked almost as proud as Jazz.

"Friends, family, and guests," the started. He hated public speaking, but at this moment he was perfectly calm. His voice didn't waver at all. "I would like to thank you all for coming." He paused for a moment, scanning the crowd. Next to his dad, Logan huffed.

"Now, when they said I had to write a speech, they told me to speak from my heart. And the only way I can do that is to tell you all what I would tell myself. In a world full of heroes, you all, the class of 2017, are the real world-changers. You are all going to go out into the world and you are going to have this great power in your hands. That power is to be whatever you want to be. A doctor. A police officer. A marine. An artist. A musician. And that is the greatest power of them all. Not super strength or metal claws or invisibility.  
But with that great power comes an even greater responsibility. Use that power to lift people up and help them. And I have never seen a group of people who are more willing to do just that.  
Over the years I had been mercilessly bullied. For how I look, how I sound, and how much I care. And what I would tell myself, what I have told myself, is that just because you are struggling now, it is not the end. Success comes with hardships. And all I ask of you now, graduates, is to keep moving forward.  
Keep moving forward. "

He stepped down from the podium and the crowd erupted into cheers. After his address was the principle's, then the super intendant's, and then they all had their names called for their diplomas. Danny was third. The senior class president and vice president were before him.  
It took maybe an hour to get through everybody's names before they did the ceremonial tassel change. Caps flew through the air, and Danny didn't know he was grinning until he realized his cheeks hurt.

There was only one way for him to move now, and that was forward.


	20. "Cousins"

Danny was nervous.

Today was the day his friends-his new family-met a member of his old family. He had worked so hard to keep the two separate. Especially since his parents are hunting him down. Apparently they can accept the fact that he's bisexual, but not the fact that he's half-ghost. Typical.

He never told them about Dani because of what would have obviously happen, but he knew Valerie would do her best. She and Dani had become as thick as thieves ever since he had to leave Amity because it had gotten so bad there. The ghosts had more or less stopped hunting him when they realized that's what his parents had been doing. In fact, Skulker even offered him his lair to stay at once. Danny had taken 

Clockwork's offer instead.

But now he was with the Avengers, and his parents had learned the hard way not to come near him or Sam and Tucker, who had been granted rooms at the Tower. Along with being Danny's closest friends, they were also great additions to the team.

After all that he was really hesitant about bringing Dani into the spotlight. But fate (or Clockwork) has that special way of punching him in the face repeatedly until he loses some of his teeth.

And then Dani had saved his loser but from the bad guy. Stark was already setting up a dentist appointment when Danny and Dani had finally picked off the rest of the bad guys. Now they were at the Tower, both of them under the other Avenger's intense stares.

"Who is she?" Steve asked. He was already mad about Danny at sixteen fighting and saving the world ("Seriously, dude, it's okay! I've been doing this since I was fourteen!"), but this girl didn't look to be more than maybe fourteen. She was really small so it was hard to tell. But she was obviously younger than Danny.

"We're cousins," Dani answered before he could, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly, looking Steve up and down. Almost as if she was challenging him to doubt her.

"Cousins?" Tony said skeptically, raising an eyebrow. There was no way. Not even cousins looked that alike. "Yeah. Okay. Now why don't you tell us the truth."

"Dani, it's fine. They're pretty chill with this kind of stuff," Danny said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Dani relaxed her stance but she still kept her guard up.

"Wait, your name is Danny too?" Clint asked through his sandwich.

"Dani with an i," Danny explained. "She's my clone."

Clint choking on his sandwich would have had him laughing if it weren't for the serious atmosphere. Tucker snorted once, but he was always really bad with the right moments and what not. That's why Sam was there to elbow him.

"Clone?" Steve was shocked. He was unbelievably mad. He was starting to see red, not because of Dani and Danny but because of the person who would put children through that sort of thing.

"Well, Steve, you can thank Plasmius for that. He's been trying to clone me for years now. Dani here was the only one that lived. And had enough of me in her to realize that Vlad is a crazy fruitloop." Danny said Vlad's name with such venom that it almost intimidated them. But Sam, bless her, gave Steve a reassuring arm squeeze that told him they would tell him the whole story later. Then she stepped forward with a big, playful grin on her face.

She put Dani in a headlock and ruffled her hair, laughing as the smaller girl struggled. And just like magic, the tension in the room mostly disappeared. Danny couldn't help but be thankful.

"So," Sam started as she finally let go of Dani, "How was Europe?"


	21. Red Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: blood blossom tea

"Please, sit down. Have some tea."

Danny looked at the Red Skull warily as he sipped his tea. This undercover mission was dangerous, but he owed Fury and Cap a favor.

He had enough bad press from Amity Park, and he used that to kindle the rest of what was happening. Whenever there was a disaster like a fire or building collapse, he would proudly take the blame for it. He would pretend to fight other heroes, calling their ideologies fake dreams that will never come true.

Then the Red Skull sent to armored men to his hideout, inviting him to have tea. Inviting him on a partnership.

He has been expecting this, and he and Cap already had everything set up. The secret microscopic microphone that would go in his gloves, and some cameras invisible to the human and nonhuman eye that sprayed on, so the could get a visual just in case. And while he knew Cap wasn't okay with him on this mission, it had to be done, and Danny was the only one who could do it.

He has arrived at the meeting point, some discreet identical warehouse or wherever that reminded him of his fake hideout, and they had driven off. Fir good measure they blindfolded him and put him in some anti-ghost cuffs so he couldn't get out. It felt suffocating and wrong. But then again, this whole situation felt wrong.

They led his blindfolded behind down so many twists and turns he wanted ti make a joke about not knowing which was was up, but for once he was actually paying to much attention to the mission. Not a single quip could come to mind with how much he was focused.

He heard a few clangs around him as he walked into a room. The whole atmosphere changed. It was warmer than what he has experienced so far, and the attitude had completely changed. All of a sudden the blindfold was ripped off, and his cuffs fell to the ground with a large thunk. Danny blinked a couple of times to adjust to the warm sunlight that was coming from the windows. It was a mostly empty room that had large (evil) equipment against the walls, some flatscreens (both evil and not evil) and a nice little table in the middle. Red Skull was lounging in a comfy chair, legs crossed and sipping tea. Danny suddenly pictured him in a dress from the 1800s and had to press down his laughter. But even with the funny thought, the tension was still extraordinarily high.

"My pleasure," Danny said, walking forward and trying to ignore the guards that had their guns trained on didn't need any trigger happy lunatics to ruin everything. "Thank you for having me," Danny said politely as he sat down. "I love what you've done with the place."

"Bah," he waved Danny off. "Flattery will not work, my dear Phantom. Besides, we have more important matters to discuss. Like our partnership. " He took another sip of his tea before placing it and the small plate on the table. Skull gestured to his cup. "Do you not like tea?" Skull's accent was almost gentle, but had an underlying threat to it all the same.

"Uh… er.. I love it." Not a lie, but that didn't mean he wasn't nervous. Anything the great Red Skull wanted him to consume was bad. Even if it was a tiny, harmless cup of tea. But his stomach was doing flip flops just looking at it. He grabbed the cup and gave Skull a nervous smile before taking a sip. There was an immediate reaction from the moment the calm drink touched him. His mouth and throat burned, his eyes watered, and he was unable to breathe let alone talk. He grabbed at his throat, trying to gain stability using the table, but it just wobbled to the side, taking Jim down to the floor with him. His stomach started to burn, and he could slowly feel his insides being torn apart by the tea.

"Blood blossom tea is my favorite, but I can see that your body does not agree with it," Skull was saying. Danny was having a hard time paying attention now that the lining of his organs were probably melting off. It felt like it anyway. "Now, in what part of this partnership were you going to tell me you were on a mission for the Captain and Fury?"

Danny opened his mouth, but he couldn't talk. He couldn't ask for help. He could barely keep his eyes open, but he had to if he wanted to see what else Skull was going to do to him. Black creeped at the edges of his vision, and he fought to keep it away. He couldn't pass out. Not here. Not now.

He heard a door slam open, and he heard lots of footsteps. It was either Steve and his backup, or it was Skull's goons here to take him away.

His stomach exploded with pain when Skull rolled him over and pressed down. Danny tried focusing on the light, to stay awake, but Skull's head blocked the light as he pressed down harder, leaning forward with a gross, yellow smile.

"You were an idiot child trying to do a man's job," he hissed. Danny's fingers clawed at the boot pressing into his gut, but he couldn't get a grip.

He let out a blood curdling scream that sent chills down normal people's spines. He was hoping some form of a ghostly wail would come forth, but no luck. The blood blossoms in his system must be taking its toll on his powers. Any longer and he might be forced to switch back.

The Red Skull just laughed though, straightening up and throwing his head back as more men surrounded them. Strange. They were all in white…Skull's men didn't wear white…

And then it dawned on him. 

Oh no...


	22. Dino Land

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Avengers mess with time and Danny (as Clockwork's Apprentice) has to set them straight

"Daniel."

Clockwork didn't bother turning as Daniel, his apprentice, entered the room. He calmly floated over to Clockwork, looking at him expectantly.

"Yeah, what's up?" Danny asked, popping his gum.

"There is a team of super humans that are time traveling, and ironically enough I don't have time to intervene. And you need experience. I want you to take care of it."

It was probably one of the only times he had never been cryptic with Danny (After all, he did love a good riddle), but this was far too important.

Danny tapped his staff on the floor twice and disappeared in a swirl of whatever shade of blue his cloak was. He was very picky about his shades of blue.  
—  
When Danny landed, his stomach was swimming, and apparently, so was he.

He had landed in some sort of river, slowly going downstream. It was odd seeing no trees or buildings. It kind of reminded him of a desert.

At least, until he was lifted out of the water. He didn't notice it at first until he blinked and he was suddenly in the air without having to fly. He looked down and yelped, almost falling off of…

A dinosaur?

His whole body was smaller than its head, and the thing's neck was freakin' huge. But that would explain the lack of buildings. And people. But he could see trees further off into the distance, along with something…Smoking? If people weren't around during this time, and there was no lighting, and it was just cool enough to not cause a fire, then that smoke should in fact not be there.  
He lifted off of the dinosaur's head (it started with a b, he knew, but all he could think of was Long Neck) and flew towards the small trail of smoke, ignoring the way his pants pinched from the water. He stopped about twenty or thirty yards away, invisible and intangible for convenience, and slowly glided over. He didn't want them to know he was there just yet.

There was one guy with his head in a ship that had a large red A on it, being scolded by a blonde guy with a bandage on his nose and stitched up gash on his forearm.

"We've been here for three days!" He whined. "What about my dog? Even worse, what about my coffee?!"

"Clint, calm down," the other guy said. "We'll be out of here in no time, all I have to do is build the whole ship from scrap parts because we're in freaking dinosaur land!"

So obviously there was a bit of tension between these friends. Probably because they had been stuck in dino land for three days, but hey, Danny wasn't going to jump to conclusions.

"Will you two knock it off?" A woman with curly red hair approached them, her hips swinging back and forth. She looked beautiful but Danny wouldn't touch her with a ten foot pole. Behind her was another blond guy who was taller and broader than the other one, with torn American spandex. Yikes.

"Nat's right," he said. "Besides, at least we beat Kang. And this problem is solvable. Right, Tony?"

The guy who was in the ship stuck his head out and wiped his brow, smearing grease across his forehead as he did so. "I don't know, Steve. We could be here a while. I only have so many materials, and there's no way I can use any prehistoric thing to make the ship go and time travel. Except for fuel, maybe, but it would take us weeks to get us even that."

"What about Thor?" Clint asked hopefully.

"He's MIA in our home time. He ain't answering anytime soon now," Steve replied. Clint didn't put any effort into hiding his disappointment. Danny almost felt sorry for him, but he knew of Kang the Conqueror, and if they beat him, well, they truly are a force to be reckoned with. He stepped through a tree, losing his invisibility half way through it, and greeted them.

"You guys beat Kang? How?"

Okay, so maybe not as politely as he would have thought, but he still wasn't mean, and that was the important part.

They all immediately hopped into a fighting stance, but nobody tried making a shot. He waved them off. "Relax, I'm here to take you back to your own time. See the staff with the little hourglass on top?"

They still didn't back down, and he was pretty sure the guy named Tony was going to throw his wrench at him.

"How?" Nat asked, eyes narrowing.

"I…I don't know how the power works, I just kind of do it. Now do you want to go home or not?" He put his hand on his hip and gave them an irritated look. Clint was the first to drop his fighting stance, looking utterly exhausted as he did so.

"I do," he said. He raised his hand and fell onto the ground, sitting cross legged and looking like he wasn't gonna stand up again unless his life depended on it.

"Close enough."

Danny tapped his staff on the ground twice, and the whole site disappeared in a swirl of rainbow colors.  
—–  
"Where are we?" Steve asked. "And who are you?"

"I am Phantom, Clockwork's Apprentice, and you are all in the Ghost Zone. Which is how we knew you guys needed help. This place is kind of the gateway to lots of other dimensions and time because of all of the natural portals that pop up," he explained. "Anyway, you guys are super heroes, right? What's your name? The Justice League?"

"Who?" Clint asked.

"We are the Avengers," Tony but in. Danny made an 'o' shape with his mouth, nodding in understanding before he opened his hand and opened a portal with it. In it was their beloved city and Tower. They could see Thor on the roof, looking slightly confused but not dead so that was always a good sign.

"So we just…?" Clint asked, letting his sentence trail off.

"Walk right through, pretty much. Anyway, try not to do any more time travel, please. Deal?"

"We'll do our best. Thank you," Steve said, patting his shoulder. He stepped through the portal, and the others followed one by one, leaving Danny by himself. Even though he only knew them for a short time, he kind of missed them.

Maybe he could talk Clockwork into letting him hang out with them more.


	23. Super Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Peter and Danny interacting

Okay, but if the hammer is in a ghost shield, and I'm controlling the ghost shield, does that mean I can lift Thor's hammer?"

Spider-Man shrugged. "That sounds plausible. I mean, I haven't tried but if my webs could do that maybe that means I'm worthy?"

"How do you even become worthy? Like, how does a construction tool decide that?" Danny persisted.

"I don't know, dude. Probably just some of that weird Asgardian mojo, you know? Anyway, do you want a PB&J or turkey?"

"Peanut butter, please. So how's your aunt?"

"Doing pretty good, I'd say. I told her I was studying with some friends so I can stay out late bust some bad guys. What about you? How are your parents?"

"Same old. Though, dad actually gave something a decent name the other day. That was pretty memorable. Jazz almost made a cake and everything."

Spidey let out a small chuckle as he lifted his mask to eat his lunch, swinging his legs over the side of the building. They people watched for a while in silence, just enjoying each other's company. There weren't lots of other super heroes that were around the same age as Danny, so it was especially nice to have someone like Spider-Man as a friend and patrol partner.

"So how do you wanna prank Fury tomorrow?" Spidey asked, tossing some crumbs off of his suit.

"What was next on our list? Was it the vodka spike or was it the one where we somehow dress him up as a bear?"

"I think it was the bear one."

"Sweet. Hey, so I was talking to the Avengers, and they agreed that you could totally be a member. And if you want to keep your identity secret to them, that's cool too. And Steve said no hard feelings about that whole airport thing and whatnot. What do you say?"

Spider-Man stared at him, speechless. Danny couldn't tell, but he was sure his eyes were wide under the mask.

"What do I think? Dude, that's awesome! I'm an official Avenger now!"

"Hey to celebrate we can go mess with Jameson!" Danny cheered.

"Even better!"

"You have to promise me something first, though," Danny said, semi-serious.

"What is it?"

"I need you bring your science stuff over so we can play with it, Tony won't let me mess with his."

There was almost a whine in his voice, but he didn't even care anymore. He got to bunk with his best super powered friend.

"It's a deal."

"Awesome," Danny said. He patted Spider-man's shoulder, and, well, he couldn't resist the laughter that came after he shoved Peter off of the building, watching him freak out for about twenty seconds before   
remembering that he could stick to walls.

Man, this was gonna be great.


	24. Welcome Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: "You're supposed to be dead! Ended! unexisted! Argh whatever!"

"You're supposed to be dead! Ended! Unexisted! Argh, whatever!"

Danny flinched as Tony raised his voice, pacing back and forth and running his greasy hands through his greasy hair.

Yeah, he did die, but now he was back. Just…Not like before.

"I can explain-"

"-Why didn't you come back sooner?! We were all so worried about you! We thought you died! Wanda and Pietro even made you a tombstone!"

The raw emotion that Stark gave, the kind of emotion he never gave to anybody but Jarvis or Bruce, startled him. He hadn't meant to worry anybody, and what he had done had gotten the job done and saved the world. But he never realized that his friend's emotions to him coming back would be harder to experience than dying.

"How…How long was I gone?" Danny asked. His voice was small, and he couldn't look Tony in the eye. He should have come back sooner. It was his fault Tony felt like this. He hung his head, and despite his broad shoulders and his height he got from his father, he felt small. Small in comparison to what he started and the whole shit-show that was happening at this very moment, and the major shit-show that happened-

"-It's been almost six years, Danny."

Danny's head shot up. Tony had stopped pacing, just standing with his back to him now, holding his head in his hands. Tony's voice was small when he spoke again.

"Six years. If you aren't actually dead…Where have you been?"

"I…I'm sorry. I was stuck in the Zone and couldn't get away. But I only just woke up a few weeks ago. Clockwork said…" Danny trailed off, unable to finish the rest of his sentence without his breathe getting lodged in his throat.

"What? What did Clockwork say?" Tony's voice started to rise, and Danny could feel the anger coming off of him in waves. He could see the red in Tony's aura. They were only little flecks, but still there all the same.

"He said I was dead. Not…Tony, I'm a full ghost now. It took all that time for my soul to cross over and become me now. A full ghost."

Danny was quiet when he spoke, but through some miracle Tony still heard him. He stared at Danny, slow tears running down his face.

"Really?" He asked, almost in disbelief.

"Really," Danny swallowed hard. "And the few weeks was because I'm now the official king of the Zone for that whole thing with Pariah Dark. I-I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner, Tony. I-"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. He was cut off by the bone crushing hug Tony was giving him. He squeezed the back of Danny's new, kingly clothing and pulled him in as closely as he could. Danny hugged him back just as tightly.

After almost a minute, Tony pulled back and wiped his face, giving Danny a huge grin.

"Come on! We got a party to throw! You're back, and you're a king. I mean, it'll be nice to have your sense of humor back, too."

He didn't mention the whole full-ghost thing for the rest of the week. Instead, he let Danny reconnect with his friends, his family. Sam and Tucker and Valerie and Dani stopped by, staying with them for a few days to be with Danny again.

He couldn't be more happy to be home again.


	25. The Ultimate Challenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Ultimate crossover? D.C., Marvel, and Danny Phantom? Do you accept my challenge?

"Cujo!" Danny called, looking all around him. Tucker just had to throw the stupid toy into the stupid Zone instead of in Jazz's room like a normal person. "Come on boy where are you?!"

He put his fingers in his mouth and whistled but still there was not tiny green dog yipping his way into Danny's arms. He called his name a couple more times, about to move to another section before he heard a voice.

"Who the hell is Cujo?"

Danny whirled around, up and down (and a little to the left) before he found the people who spoke. The one dressed in all primary colors stepped forward towards Danny cautiously.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"What do you mean who am I? Who are you guys?" Danny said. They weren't ghosts, but something told him that they weren't really human, either.

"Ah! We asked you first!" The guy in the flashy red suit countered. He had a fait point.

"Ugh, fine. I'm Phantom, and I'm looking for my dog. You haven't, by any chance, seen a tiny green puppy with a spiked collar have you?"

"Uh… No," Primary Colors said. "Anyway, I'm Superman. These are my friends, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash."

Before he could say anymore the dark angsty one, Batman, came forward.

"Where are we? And his do we get out?" His voice was gravely, like he needed some cough drops or honey or something.

"Uh… You're in the Ghost Zone, and, because you're not from my world we have to find a natural portal that leads to you world. Or take the easy way out and go to Clockwork."

"Who's Clockwork?" Flash asked.

"Eh, boring old Master of Time. He's fun to talk to though," Danny answered casually, looking around again. "Just… Just follow me, I can take you to him…"

Then, all of a sudden he zipped to the side, excited.

"Cujo! I found-oh no nope no I did not. This, see this is a… Hand? Covered in ectoplasm. Yup. Not Cujo." He followed the arm all the way up to the person it was connected to.

A giant, green, hulking thing that was glaring at him. Danny quickly detached himself from the dude's hand and backed away.

"Sorry. I was uh, looking for my dog… And he's… green…"

"Relax, kid, he wouldn't hurt a… Kid. Kid?"

A lanky guy with spiky blonde hair and a bow walked forward. "Where are your parents, kid?" He asked.

"Okay, first of all I'm fifteen, so not a kid. Second of all, that's none of you business. Third of all, who are you?"

"Yes. Who are you and your brightly colored friends?" Wonder Woman asked as she walked up behind Danny. She may not have known him long, but she was quite fond of the spirit.

"What she said," Superman said.

"Geez, no need to get all defensive. I'm Hawkeye, the guy you hugged is the Hulk, and Thats Captain America and Iron Man over there. Hey! Where did Spider-Man go?"

Hulk huffed and turned around, where Spider-Man was clinging, looking a little worse for wear.

"Bug Man on Hulk's back!" The Hulk said, jabbing his thumb at Spidey.

"Yeah. Anyway, we're the Avengers. And you are?"

"We're the Justice League!" The Flash said proudly. "Oh, but he's not with us, he's just looking for his dog."

Danny shrugged and looked around their area once again. He was just so worried about him.

"Where are we? One of Thor's special little magic lands?" Iron Man asked with a bit of sarcasm.

"Actually, you guys are in the Ghost Zone. My name is Phantom and I'm gonna take a safe guess and assume you guys aren't from the same worlds."

Both side nodded, and Danny clapped his hands together.

"Cool. We are gonna head to Clockwork's, and if any of you guys spot a tiny nonthreatening or a very large scary green dog with a spiked collar, just hollar. Because Thats my dog."

They walked around for what seemed like hours, passing by Ember who called him a dipstick, Youngblood, who was pretending to be a cowboy, and Skulker, Who decided it was best to not hunt Danny today. Probably because both Hulk and Wonder Woman were behind him at the time, but Danny wasn't complaining.

"So you really know everybody here, don't you?" Flash asked.

"Well, yeah. They one into my world a lot because my parents made a portal of their own, and I kind of send them back home. A couple of them are my friends, like Clockwork and Frostbite and Pandora and Dora. They're all pretty fun to hang with."

"So… Are you a ghost?"

"Uh… er… yeah, I guess. I'm a halfa. Half human, half ghost. It's actually pretty cool."

"Sounds cool. All I have is super speed."

"Oh! Shit, Cap, you're hundredth birthday is today!" Spidey said apologetically. "Sorry it got ruined."

"Wait, Youre a hundred years old?" Danny asked skeptically. "No way. Not possible."

"I was frozen and in suspended animation for seventy years during the war," he explained simply. Obviously a touchy subject so Danny didn't press.

"How much longer until we reach Clockwork?" Batman asked seriously, changing the subject that seemed to change every five seconds.

"We're close. See? That's his tower," Danny said, pointing.

"How are we gonna get over there?" Hawkeye asked.

"Well, um. I usually fly. Um… If you can fly just carry someone who can't. Yeah?"

"Hulk calls Bug Man!" Hulk yelled, grabbing Spider-Man around his waists and placing him on his shoulder.

"I got Cap," Iron Man said.

"And I will get Flash," Wonder Woman said.

"Uh… I guess I'll get Hawkeye then," Danny said.

"Oh, don't sound to excited there," the archer replied sarcastically.

"I could leave you here wandering around for all eternity if you would prefer," Danny's feet turned into a wispy tail as he lifted off the ground, Hawkeye shaking his head no to Danny's suggestion.

It only took them a few short minutes to fly there, and through Danny's window at Clockwork's tower. Danny noted that Hulk was really good at aiming when he jumped.

"Come on, he's right down here," Danny said, setting Hawkeye down.

They went down just the one large hallway before it opened up into a large room with hundreds of screens, showing them what was going on in all times all the time.

"Hey Clockwork," Danny waved. "Hey, have you seen-Cujo!"

The tiny dog jumped into Danny's arms and licked him all over, making Danny laugh. The others filed in behind him, but thanks to Danny, Cujo didn't go into attack dog mode. The pup leaped into Batman's arms excitedly, demanding attention from the Dark Knight. He pet the dog without a word.

"So, Clockwork, these guys have a situation." Danny looked at his old friend expectantly as he changed from an old man to a child.

"Yes, I know. I've been watching."

"Ok, so would you like to help us out now?" Iron Man asked.

"In time. First, I think you are all forgetting something," Clockwork spoke with authority as he changed from a child to an adult. "Now, Anthony, why don't you swallow your pride and thank the young boy who   
helped you."

"How do you know my name?" Tony asked.

"I see all. I know all of you. I've known this moment would happen before you all were even born. Now, onto business. Daniel."

"Yeah," he laughed. He has been preoccupied with Cujo until Clockwork said his name.

"Your father is calling for you, I suggest you go home."

"Oh. Alright. Anyway, bye guys, I hope you get home alright. See ya!"

Danny waved and left the way the had arrived, multiple thank yous following him.

Clockwork opened two portals and directed the super heroes to their specific one.

"Goodbye. And try to stay in your own world," Clockwork advised before the stepped through their assigned portals. Once they were gone, Clockwork sighed.

"Thank you for your help, Cujo," he said, patting the dog, who Yipped his reply. "It is much appreciated."


	26. Blind Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Danny meets Matt Murdock

Danny knew him. Well, knew of him. The Devil of Hell's Kitchen was definitely someone to be reckoned with. But he wasn't expecting the guy to be so…Human.

The rumors, he had figured, were of course just rumors, but to actually see the real deal instead of the image Danny had in his head, well, it was kind of disappointing.

"Are you okay?" Daredevil asked. Danny couldn't tell from the mask, but he was sure the guy was raising his eyebrow.

"What? Oh, yeah, no, I'm fine. Just…Wow."

"No…No, you're not fine. We need to get you to a hospital or something."

That was out of nowhere. Danny had been on several confusing adventures where to this day he still didn't know what actually happened, but to just out of the blue be told to go to the hospital? The one place he couldn't go? It was absurd. This guy didn't even know him!

"No. Why should I go to the hospital? Nothing is wrong with me." Danny crossed his arms over his chest defiantly.

"You're heart rate is to slow and it smells like something is decaying. There's no way you're fine," Daredevil answered simply.

"Dude, do you even know who I am?" Danny was floating in front of him now, pointing at himself and giving Daredevil his best are you serious? look.

"Some kid who can fly and thinks he's a superhero." Daredevil didn't want to be harsh, but this kid hasn't even hit puberty yet. He didn't want him getting hurt.

"Dude, I'm Danny Phantom. I have ghost powers because I'm half-ghost. All that stuff is normal, dude."

"But you're a kid,'" he countered.

"Yeah, one that's half dead. Besides, you really think you can't use my help? What, you're trying to pin evidence against Kingpin to get him back in prison, right? Bro, I got you. You just go up to the stand tomorrow and do your thing."

"I don't know what you're talking about. What stand?"

"Dude, don't play dumb, I know who you are. I'm friends with the Master of Time, and he sees everything. He's got so many televisions and all he does is use them to spy on people. He could be watching a movie or something but noooo. Anyway, I got you."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"Because I'm not the bad guy. And I know that you know I'm not lying. I want to help, and I'm going to whether you want me to or not. Something I've learned over the years is that you can't do this kind of thing alone. It's stupid to think you can."

"I've been ding good so far," Daredevil countered.

"Yeah? And how lonely have you been? You've been so focused on protecting them that you haven't realized they can help protect you?"

"Protect me? Protect me from what?"

"Yourself."

He was right, but Daredevil wasn't going to let him know that. But it was still so astounding that this kid had figured everything out, and he couldn't even get his job together.

Danny Phantom must have learned from experience.  
—-  
The next day was wild. It was all over the news, police reports and recording or Fisk giving a full confession to everything he had done. The death of several people, which alone would put him in jail for years to come, along with his criminal enterprise and everything and everybody connected to it.

It was a bug day for both Nelson and Murdock and the press. It was like a bomb of information blew up, and now Fisk was on his way to being transported to the highest security prison in the nation with no hopes of escaping, and all of his goons were next.

There was a knock at the door, and he heard Karen answer it from the room over.

"Oh, hello? How may I help you?" She asked politely. However, it was slightly strained from the lack of sleep and paperwork that built up overnight. They had gotten great recognition over the help of defeating Fisk.

"Oh, hi. My name is Danny. I was just wondering if I could talk to Mr. Murdock for a second?"

"Oh…Um…Sure, he's right in here."

Danny was led into the side room, and Matt closed the door behind him.

"So you actually did it, huh? How did you get him to confess?"

"I don't use it very often, but I overshadowed him. Which is a fancy word for possess. He doesn't remember anything, so there's no way for him to pin it on me. And I made a duplicate, so if they ask the Avengers they have footage of me hanging out with them all night. All ends are tied and you guys now have a continuous flow of people who can actually pay you guys."

"Thank you. Really. And not just for this."

"Eh, don't worry about it. I had to learn that lesson the hard way too. Anyway, I gotta head to the Far Frozen, but if you need anything, just call, yeah?"

"Yeah, likewise."

"See you around, dude."

Danny almost phased through the wall, and then remembered the people in the other room, and took the door instead.

Man, Sam and Tucker were not going to believe this.


	27. Worthy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Danny hanging out with the Avengers

"Just because you catch it midair and 'lead' it towards the bad guy with you ghost shield does not mean you're worthy to use Thor's hammer!"

Danny glared at Tony shooting his idea down.

He knew he wasn't worthy, what with the whole Dan thing. But here they were, laughing and making fun of each other around the table as each new member tried to lift the hammer. All of them were trying to live up to what Cap had done. Even making it nudge a little bit was impressive.

Sam went first, and Danny didn't doubt that the was worthy. He was good, pure, really. All the wanted to do was help people with their problems. He was a trouble magnet that had a need to fix the problem. He was a great friend if Danny's, and a very respected one as well.

He didn't lift the hammer.

Danny was shocked, to say the least. Of all the new people here he expected Sam to be able to do it.

Next was Wanda, who, despite being a good friend, he didn't think she was worthy. She had done the wrong thing for the right reasons one to many times. But she had a good heart. Maybe she would prove 

Danny wrong.

No, she didn't lift it either.

Clint made some comment about having to have an Odin-related fingerprint to be able to lift it, and Sam just called him a sore loser. Next up was the newest member, Bucky. It was still super rocky between him and Tony, but the relationship between the two was getting better. Danny couldn't tell whether or not the would be able to lift it though. He didn't know enough about the guy, except for the stuff Tucker had sent him. Once he had read it it had become obvious why Bucky and Tony's relationship was so… Not good.

"I think we all know the answer to that question," He held up a hand, declining the offer to try. It was still weird hearing him talk. He didn't do it very often.

That left none other than Danny (because Vision already could) to try. Everyone turned to him, and, while he wanted to decline, he had no reason to.

He stood up, feeling all eye on him as the made his way to the table, Clint jokingly trying to trip him on his way.

"Come on, Casper," Tony grinned, "Are you gonna try using your shield idea?"

Danny shrugged and stuck his hand through the loop and gripped the handle with both hands. He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe, and the could almost feel the hammer humming under his fingertips.

"Hey guy! How's it going?"

Danny's concentration broke as he spun around to greet his sister.

"Hey, Jazz!" He said cheerfully, waving with the hand that held the hammer.

"Dude what the hell?" Tony sounded confused. Everybody else was wide eyed, and Thor looked almost nervous.

"Wait…" he said, still trying to process. Only the worthy people could lift Thor's hammer. But the wasn't worthy. Not with Dan and the fact that he's half dead, and-

"Oh my god dude," Clint said, astounded. Danny took his hand out of the loop and tossed it from hand to hand. So the hammer had been humming. It was almost like it was… Alive.

Asgardian magic was dope.

"So, Tony," Danny said with a shit-eating grin, "Looks like I won't be needing that ghost shield after all."


	28. The Kid Void

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Void!Danny

"So what are we going up against?" Captain America asked Bucky as he pulled his mask over his head.

"I don't know, but whatever it is it's valuable to Skull," Bucky replied, pinning himself against the wall and listening intently.

"Intel says its a he, not an it, so there's that," Black Widow whispered, signaling that the coast was clear.

Red Skull's base was heavily armed and guarded, but with the security cameras on a loop and lots of places to hide, they got through the hallways with almost no problem. And with the key card that Widow stole, they had clearance to almost everything.

Including the lab, where the boy was being held.

"Possibly a meta-human," Cap said as he swiped the card and unlocked the heavy double doors, "So be careful." The other spies nodded and flanked Cap on his left and right, Widow going to one wall and Cap and Bucky going to the other as they watched from a distance.

Intel wasn't wrong, that's for sure. There was a boy, no older than maybe fourteen or fifteen, being held in a bulletproof, meta-proof glass box. He sat in the middle of it, cross legged and looking…Scared? No, that wasn't it. But he was definitely concerned with what the scientists were going to do next.

He had black and purple marking along his body, making a substitution for the clothes he didn't have. It almost looked like space was just sitting there in various swirls across the boy's skin. His black eyes were covered with his shock of black hair, but they still had so much emotion that Steve immediately became infuriated by what Skull was doing to this-this child. It was beyond wrong.

"Okay," one of the Lab Coats said, "You can turn off the power-repression."

A second scientist pressed a few buttons, and the humming they hadn't noticed before became silent.

It was an instant reaction. Shadows tried breaking the glass, but to know avail. They had come from the boy, but he hadn't moved an inch. He kept trying, and Widow noticed how he was aiming for various scientists across the dim room. He wanted out.

They used sign language to formulate a plan to take out the guards and open the glass (or break it, whichever works). Without killing them. Critically injuring them, however, was okay, which made Bucky and Widow both smirk.

Cap motioned for them to go.

They stayed closer to the walls to avoid being seen, until Widow sent the first shot, injuring one of the scientists. He rasped his thigh and hit the ground, and a part of Steve wished that his pain would be everlasting.

He threw his shield, and it flew with deadly precision as Bucky took out his knife and started going to town. It only took a few short minutes for all of the scientists to get beaten. They didn't even get a chance to hit the alarms, which gave the trio an extra five minutes at the most, before they realized that the camera were still on a loop. After all, HYDRA members weren't exactly the brightest.

"Who are you?"

They all turned to the boy in the glass box, who stood and backed away a few feet. Steve put his hands up to show that he wasn't going to hurt him. But the voice…It sent chills down his spine. It was cold and echoed slightly.

"It's okay, we're here to help you. We're going to get you out of here," he said calmly, praying that Natasha's hacking skills had improved since the last time she did this. Thankfully, they had, and within just under a minute the glass case around the boy sunk slowly into the ground, but he used his powers to jump over it before it even got half way there.

"What's your name, kid?" Bucky asked, looking around for the quickest escape. He had memorized the blueprints of the building before they came, so he might just need to blow that south wall over there and break through another three rooms before they were free.

"My name is Danny," the kid said. "Who are you?"

"No time for chit-chat," Natasha spoke. "They're onto us, we gotta hurry up and get out of here." Her voice left no room for discussion. "Barnes, what's the quickest way out of here?"

"Through this wall. I have some grenades-shouldn't be a prob-"

Before he could finish speaking, they were all engulfed in black. It was terrifying and thrilling all at the same time, and only lasted for a second before he was blinking in the brightness of the Avenger's Tower.

But they were just? What?

A sharp thud brought his attention back to Danny, who dropped a thick stack of notebooks and files on the coffee table in front of Clint, who was trying to play video games.

"What the hell?" he asked, placing his controller back down and backing away towards Steve and Natasha. "Who is he?"

"Danny. We'll explain later," Natasha replied. "Right now, we need to get Danny some food. Are you hungry?" Danny nodded, and followed Natasha to the kitchen.

"So…Seriously," Clint said, turning to the two overgrown fossils, "What the hell happened?"


	29. A Little Godly Encouragement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: "It's just one of those hit or miss kind of things y'know?"

"And what are you doing, Daniel?"

Danny jumped at the sound of Thor's booming voice (heh, booming voice. Because he controls lightning), dropping his bow tie.

"Uh-er-n-nothing," He stammered. "I-I'm just practicing my bow tying!"

""What is the occasion, my friend?" Thor asked, slapping a hand onto Danny's shoulder. He was going to have a bruise there for a week.

"Um…" he sighed, "I-ugh. See, me and Sam have been going out for like, ten years now. We've known each other since grade school, and we've saved the world together more times than Clint can count. I-I'm just nervous."

"About what? It is the anniversary of you love! it is not something you need to worry about!"

"It is when the girl of your dreams might say no. It's just one of those hit or miss kind of things, y'know?"

"Hm, I understand. However, do not let your fear get in the way of who you love or what you love doing."

"I do love doing Sam…" Danny said absently. "No! It's to soon! I can't propose to her!"

"Daniel, you said you have been together for ten years. I doubt it hasn't been long enough for you to wed her."

"You're right. You're totally right." Danny spoke a little to stiffly, but he was just so nervous. What if she said no? What would that do to their relationship? After all, they had a lot of history.

"Daniel, you must hurry. You don't want to be late," Thor said supportingly. "I see the way you two interact. You look at her like she is a ray of sunshine after decades of gloom, and she looks at you just the   
same. I have not seen a more perfect pair of mortals to be together. You are almost as good as myself and my Lady Jane, I must say. Now go, and don't let your fear stop you, boy."

"Wow, Thor. That actually makes me feel a lot better. You'll be the first to know how things go, I promise," Danny said with a smile as he finished tying his bow tie with steady hands. Thor nodded and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Good luck. And give Samantha my love."

"Will do. See you later, big guy."

Thor watched as Danny left the room, feeling more proud of his teammate than he ever had before.

Daniel had better make him a groomsmen.


	30. Day 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Danny first meeting the Avengers

Danny stared at the large skyscrapers in awe as he walked the streets of New York City. He adjusted hi duffel bag on his shoulder, careful of the large wound he sported under his dirty T-shirt. The past few days had been intense, with his parents finding out about him. He had to leave Amity Park, his friends, and his sister. Hell, he even kind of missed Dash.

It took him a day to get out of Amity, and another day and a half to fly all the way to the Big Apple, where superheroes were more accepted for their unnatural abilities. He was tired, hungry, and ready to just collapse, but he had to keep moving if he was going to find somewhere semi-safe to spend the night. He enough money to last him a couple of weeks (thank you, Vlad, for not ghost-proofing your vault) if he   
spent it right.

All of a sudden the ground rumbled as an explosion was set off a couple streets down. His brain said ignore it. he didn't need to draw unwanted attention to himself right now. What if his parents found out where he was and decided to come to New York to hunt him down? He couldn't risk it.

But he also couldn't risk innocent people getting hurt. He clutched his chest, right over his core. He felt the cold humming, urging him to go help. He quite literally couldn't resist. After all, going against your obsession-your very core-could be catastrophic to his very being.

He sighed and ran into an alleyway across the street, putting his duffel bag half way through one of the buildings, high up so nobody could reach it and steal his only belongings. He then changed into Phantom, wincing as his wounds pulled against his slightly torn uniform. His shoulder was raw and glowing green nd red from the irritation, and the blast he took to the side was going to slow him down, but he had to help them.

He flew straight up and headed towards the giant smoke cloud that had grown in a matter of seconds.

The source was a small army of robots, just a little bigger than his father. There were maybe twenty or thirty, but that wasn't going to stop him. He dove into the smoke and to the street, flying past them as fast as he could manage while coating the pavement with ice. He could feel his core pulling at him, telling him not to overdo himself, but there was no way he wasn't going to. he had to if he wanted to win this fight.  
He stopped behind them and sent some ectoblasts at them. However, hey had some energy blasts of there own, and they knicked him on his bad shoulder. He let out a cry of pain and clutched his injury, taking to the air once more and blasting them from there. He turned intangible as a couple more blasts were directed towards him, but he couldn't hold it for very long. He could barely stay thirty feet in the air and not get a little dizzy.

In the corner of his eye he saw some sort of…Giant, metal frisbee? It whirled around, hitting several of the robots like a pinball game. It was met with a few arrows coming through the smoke. Three towards the robot, and one…Towards him?

He was too slow. He got his square in the chest and it exploded, sending him straight to the ground.

He struggled to get up, clutching his chest. There was a hole in the front of his uniform now, showing off a few of his battle scars. Once he was back on his feet, he shot more robots, ignoring the arrow guy. He knew it was a misunderstanding, and chose not to bother himself with it. Only the robots.

Several tiny blue balls flew over his head and latched themselves onto various robots before beeping rapidly and blowing up. Danny quickly threw up his ghost shield to avoid being hit with debris.

Somebody with big, meaty hands grabbed his waist, pressing down on his wound, and brought him to his terrifying, green face. Danny waved weakly, swallowing the nervous lump in his throat.

"I'm trying to help you guys. I have powers too, see?" He said. He turned invisible and intangible, sliding through the behemoth's grasp and hovering over to more robots.

At this point, if he wanted to keep using his other powers, flying was out of the game. He hadn't slept in three days, hadn't eaten in two, and was horribly injured. There was no way he could keep this up much longer, but if he wanted to keep innocent people safe he was going to have to. it felt like he was running off of shear willpower now.

He sent a couple of blasts again, narrowly missing the red-headed ninja who was gracefully electrocuting the robots. Her hand-to-hand combat scared him a little (a lot, actually), but he couldn't focus on that right now. He had to focus on helping these guys take down the small fleet of rip-off Star Wars robots. Droids. Whatever they were called.

He heard the thing whizzing past his head more than he saw it, but it wasn't hard to follow the path of destruction it made before making its way back to its master's grasp. Which was a tall, muscular blonde guy in armor. Huh.

Thankfully, with seven people fighting these things, it only took a few more agonizingly painful minutes until they were all in pieces across the street. Most of the smoke had cleared thanks to the hammer guy. Frisbee guy was knocking out the very last one when Danny finally let himself sit down, using a chunk of building and broken street as a chair. His core hurt, urging him to change back to Fenton, but he held tight. With his energy, it was all he could do.

"Who are you?"

He looked up to see a guy in a red and yellow suit or high tech armor. Iron Man.

"Phantom. You," he paused to catch his breathe, "You guys are the Avengers…Right? I think that's the name."

"That's us," the Star Spangled Man with a Plan walked up to them, hooking his shield onto his back. "You could use some help. How about you come back to base with us, we'll get you patched up and on your way."

Just like that they were going to help him? What kind of people were these guys? What about having to prove that he's a good guy and could be trusted? While these questions swirled in his mind, he couldn't resist the need for the free medical attention that he so desperately needed.

"Yeah," he replied, "Yeah, okay."

Captain America held out his hand, and Danny took it. Once he was on his feet, he swayed and collapsed again. Thankfully Iron Man and Cap managed to catch him before he hit the ground.

"So…What are we gonna do with this kid?" Clint asked from across the street. He had a scrape on his head he was poking at. Hulk walked up next to him and gave him one giant pat on the back, making Hawkeye almost fall over.

"Ghost boy help beat robots," he said simply.

"Well, I guess we could take him in, then," Iron Man replied. This seemed to satisfy Hulk.

Eventually they decided to take him to the med bay at the Tower and patch him up like promised, and when he woke up he was offered a place to stay.

A month later he became an official member of the Avengers.


	31. End of a Legend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Insane Danny (Dan way) and Avengers realize they can't do anything about it

There wasn't a specific point you could pin down and analyze. Danny going…Dark had been a buildup of several, countless things. Although, it was sooner or later bound to happen to the twenty-five year old.

First it started out with the nightmares. Both from the ghost fighting, villain fighting, and from when he first got his powers. Then it was probably when he was almost seventeen and his parents turned on him once they found out he was half ghost. Of course, he was already a part-time member of the Avengers, so he had somewhere to go. But home wasn't it.

Tucker had been killed in the field. Stabbed by Taskmaster, and by the time they had gotten him to a hospital it was already too late. Danny had been 18.

Next was Sam, his beloved girlfriend and hopefully future wife. He will never get tat chance ever again. Nobody knew him like Sam had, and now that she was gone, he started to get irritable, defensive, reclusive. She had drowned at Niagara Falls while they were saving the world with the Fantastic Four. Danny hadn't spoken to them since. He had been twenty years old.

Then, of all the people he thought were most protected, the one person who could never die on him…Had.

Jazz had made something of herself. She was one of the world's top psychologists at the young age of twenty-nine, and was world famous. On top of that she helped him get through his PTSD and self-guilt while also occasionally helping from the sidelines. Then Vlad had shown up…

It was probably an accident, Danny knew. Vlad had never tried to murder Jazz. But he had gotten more ruthless through the years, and his slow mental decline sped up when Jazz uttered her last words in his arms.

After that, Vlad was nowhere to be seen. Plasmius or Masters.

Danny had made sure of it.

The Avengers , his friends, had tried helping, but they couldn't. Not really. And when Danny realized that, he became unhinged.

Probably permanently.

He started killing the villains. First it was the Red Skull, who had been just as surprised as the rest of the world, who, at first, had considered it a win. No more Nazis to deal with. Then it was Taskmaster. Partly for Tucker, partly because it made him feel good inside. Watching his skull be crushed beneath his foot had been to satisfying. And when he possessed Loki and choked himself to death? Priceless. Danny hadn't had that much fun in years.

A part of him kept expecting the Avengers or Clockwork to stop him, but Clockwork stayed in the Zone, and the Avengers couldn't even touch him.

When the Thing got in his way, he turned the boulder-like man to pebbles.

Several heroes tried and failed to take Danny down. But the ghost boy was seven feet tall and made of solid muscle. Even his parents came out of their hiding spots in Amity and tried taking a shot at him. Killing them had been a weight off of his shoulders. Like a type of closure.

He was confused why people thought they could take over the world when they were this weak. Many of them couldn't even take over New York. It took Danny maybe five minutes and his biggest Ghostly Wail ever to make the city crumple.

Dr. Doom had found him, and had tried a partnership, but it quickly ended when Danny half drowned him before snapping his neck.

He didn't know when his eyes turned red, but he thought he looked better like that anyway.

"There's gotta be some way we can take him down," Clint said. They were in an underground hideout they had never told Danny about. It was him, Cap, Iron Man, Natasha, Nick Fury, Johnny Storm, a couple of Defenders, and about a quarter of the X-Men. Thor was in Asgard getting together an army as they spoke. But while they were too busy trying to make a plan, Phantom-a name the whole world had learned to fear-was taking down the Russian Empire.

"We weaken him and send in Thor's army. Then, when he's distracted, we go in for the killing blow," Fury stated.

"Wait, what?" Spider-Man sounded appalled. "We can't just kill him! He used to be our friend! Maybe we should try helping him instead!"

"Was he your friend when he dropped a building on your aunt?" Logan snapped. "Or when he turned Ben into a crappy pile of rocks? Or how about when he murdered the Hulk in cold blood? He was friends with Big Green too. Parker-he's not our friend anymore. He's a cold blooded killer that needs to be taken down, and the only way to do that is if he dies."

"But he's already half-dead," Natasha stated. "What about his Fenton Thermos?"

"Too weak to hold him. He'll break through within minutes, and that's if we're lucky," Iron Man replied. "And none of the ghosts will help us, they're all to afraid of him. Except for maybe Clockwork, but he's not allowed to get involved."

"I find that I can break a few rules if it means sparring humanity."

They all whirled around at the ghost who had appeared before them, his purple cloak billowing behind him despite the lack of a draft.

"And we're just supposed to sit here and trust whatever you have to say?" Luke Cage said defensively.

"I understand your concern. But he's a sort of pupil of mine, therefore he is my responsibility. I should have gotten involved sooner. However, ever since he wiped out the Observants I am free to roam as I please. Gather your armies. We will meet him in Denver tomorrow."

"How do you know?" Beast asked.

"I'm the Master of Time. I see everything."  
—–  
Thor was there, and so were the Warriors Three and Lady Sif, the most fiercest warriors in Asgard. Along with the Asgardians came Frost Giants and dwarves, all equipped for battle. On top of that, every hero left alive through the carnage that Phantom had caused was standing along side them, ready to take down their former friend.

They were ready.  
—-  
At the end of it all, a good portion of them hadn't made it. Several Asgardians and Frost Giants had lost their lives. The Fantastic Four and Defenders were no more, and there was only a handful of X-Men left. The Avengers had lost quite a few, but had the largest remaining super-group. Iron Man, Cap, Thor, Vision, and Dr. Strange were among the very few that were left.

Danny Phantom's still body laid in the middle of the crater. His eyes were closed, and he was no longer breathing. Clockwork had assured them that he was dead, and he would stay dead. He had already surpassed his full ghost form, and now he was ended.

All of the heroes watched as two white rings split at his waist and engulfed him in the light, until it was just Danny. He had the same black hair, but now there was a white stripe down the middle. He was wearing his favorite hoodie that Sam had given him, and a pair of dirty jeans and old sneakers. He looked at peace. But also like he died to young.

Every single hero standing around the crater had seen themselves and their colleagues going out in a blaze of glory. Not in a spiel of incurable madness that could only be stopped by death.

Clockwork floated into the crater gently, his head hanging. He slowly, but carefully, picked Danny up bridal style and floated back up. Iron Man didn't say anything, but the ghost's tears didn't escape his attention. It must have been hard on Clockwork the most. After all, he had known Danny the longest, had helped him guide through the right and wrong.

Only to give the killing blow.

"I can help rebuild your cities, but I cannot bring back the lives that were lost. I can only hope that, with time, they will return to you on the astral plane."

And just like that, Clockwork and Danny were gone.


	32. Kid Void part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Void!Danny part 2

So…What do you eat?" Clint asked awkwardly. They had finally gotten the kid some clothes. A grey T-Shirt and some nice jeans with a red hoodie. He seemed to like playing with the hoodie strings.

"Well, whatever you humans eat, I suppose," he said. Whenever he spoke it was echo-y and sounded…Indifferent. Clint didn't know how he was supposed to feel about it.

"Uh, okay? How about a meatball sub I got from the sandwich shop on 12th?" Clint asked. He had bought two, but Danny needed it more than his dog. Danny just shrugged and continued to play with his hoodie strings.

According to some of the tests he had a digestive system and a heart (and some glowing ball thing next to his heart-Danny called it his core), and other human body things. His black eyes were unnerving but once you got used to them you could actually look at him whenever you talked to him.

Despite what he had been through, he was actually a really sweet kid. He was nice, polite, and laughed at pretty much anything he found funny. But when he slept it was a different story. He would toss and turn, and there was one time Clint had found himself pinned to the ceiling by a shadow before Sam had calmed the kid down enough for him to get a good night's sleep.

He was also really good in the field. Apparently lots of villains were terrified of him. But while they were in the field kicking ass they found out that shadows were only one of Danny's powers. He also shot these bright green blasts from his hands, and he could fly and turn invisible and intangible. He didn't breathe very often either. Enough to be alive, but not enough to be considered human. When he hyperventilated one time he was breathing at the rate of a normal human being. Clint didn't know how to feel about that, either.

One day Fury dropped by while Clint was teaching him how to play Mario Party 6, and he had flipped out. He had dove under Clint's legs, disappearing into the shadows they had cast. Apparently he was not a fan of Fury.

"We have some information on the shadow boy," Fury said. "He's supposedly in Africa, terrorizing the natives."

"We'll get right on it, sir," Steve said as he walked in. His stance was rigid like always whenever Fury showed up. Clint understood. After all, if he had been lied to half as many times as Fury had lied to Steve that person would have no way to contact Clint ever again. Fury briefed them for only a few short minutes before disappearing again. Typical. Once he was gone, Danny came out of his hiding spot.

"You know Nick Fury?" Clint asked. Danny nodded, eyeing the door with a concerned look on his face. He pointed to his neck where there was a scar nobody had ever noticed before. It led into the shadows that covered his back, but he had no trouble showing them. They watched as Danny took off his hoodie and shirt and moved the shadows on his back to his front, and Steve and Clint both saw red.

The scars were everywhere. There wasn't a single inch that wasn't covered by them.

"And Fury did that to you?" Clint asked, way pissed off.

"Some. Skull did some too. Shadows cover them," was Danny's short reply.

"They were running tests on the shadows on his body. That's what caused it."

The trio turned around to see Natasha, holding a flashdrive in her hand as she walked towards them.

"This is the stuff they have on you, Danny. I deleted everything from their database on you after I made a copy of it."

Danny gave Natasha a grin, and Clint couldn't help but smile either. Danny was just a happy little kid who was extremely talented and powerful. But he was Clint's new best friend, and he would do anything to protect was no way he was ever going to let Fury or anybody else touch him.

That was a promise.


	33. Venom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Danny fused with Venom

Danny didn't know what he was really getting into when he agreed to help Fury with a little lab explosion down in Queens. He just thought he would have to rescue a couple people, put out a couple of fires, and that was that.

He never thought he would get stuck with some sticky black goo attached to him. It covered his whole suit, making the whole thing black except for his logo. He tried pulling it off of him, but that didn't work. He tried flying as fast as he could. Maybe it would fall off. But that hadn't worked either. He blasted himself in the chest with an ecto-ice blast, sure that now he would be rid of it. But now, it only absorbed the hit and latched on even tighter.

Whenever he went crime fighting as Phantom it would also be a sort of mask around him, leaving only the eyes and nose open, like a ninja. It helped for stealth because the glow was hardly there anymore, but it felt..Wrong. Like every cell in his being was telling him to reject the black tar, but it was really hard to do that when it wouldn't get off of him.

"What are you anyway?" He asked the goo. He knew it wouldn't answer. It was just goo with a brain, and there was no way he knew hat would make it come off. But the longer it stayed on, the longer he appreciated its presence. After all, it had become a lot easier to take down bad guys like Dr. Doom or Undergrowth. Maybe this thing wasn't a curse so much as a blessing he didn't recognize.

He walked around school with it under his clothes, and it had stopped the bullies from coming near him. But it also stopped his friends from coming near him. Sam and Tucker didn't know what it was, but they were concerned with it being on him for so long. But Danny had blown them off, and they hadn't come back since. The strange part was that he didn't miss them. In fact, he felt like he didn't even need them. 

After all, who were they to ell him how to live his life?

It was stuck to him for months, and along that time he became more cruel, more sinister, and overall just more brutal with how he took down villains. When he met up with Spider-Man for a patrol, he had non-jokingly pushed the web head off of a building and laughed as he freaked out. When he didn't apologize or explain his actions, Spider-Man left.

A couple of weeks after that, he had to help take down an army of Dr. Dooms giant robots that were treading over the shores of France. hey were losing badly, even with Danny's enhanced strength, so he decided to use the ace up his sleeve.

His ghostly wail.

He stepped into a strong stance, filled his lungs with as much air as he possibly could, and let it rip.

He could feel himself tearing, and when he glanced down, the black tar had fully detached from his torso. He felt like he could breathe properly again. He kept the scream going, past the point of the robot's destruction. He pointed his face to the sky to not hurt his friends. he realized now that this thing attached to him was awful. It wasn't helping him, it was turning him.

Once he emptied all the air in his lungs he collapsed onto his knees. The goo hadn't detached all the way, and he started to wrestle it, rolling around on the ground as it continued to engulf him. He fought until he couldn't see anymore.

He was trapped inside of the black tar, unable to turn intangible, unable to breathe or to call for help. He was unable to see what was going on outside the black tar. But he was aware of the fact that he let this happen, and whatever happened next was his fault. He should have taken care of the problem before it got this bad.

All of a sudden sharp pains ran throughout his body, and his ears felt like they were bleeding. But he could see and breathe once again. He heard someone faintly screaming, and something in the back of his mind told him that it was he who was screaming. Through the electric current he saw Iron Man and Spider-Man tag teaming to get the black tar off of him. He pointed his head down, looking at the writhing tar before sucking in another breath of air and letting out another ghostly wail. It was much weaker than the last one, but it got the job done. The thing slid off of him and onto the ground, but it didn't get far. Spider-Man trapped it into an unbreakable flask that was about the size of Danny's thermos.

Danny fell to his knees, exhausted and seeing stars. His head felt a lot more clear than it had been in months. The cloud of fog that was around his mind had lifted. He hadn't even realized it was there until now.  
He was still sitting there, trying to catch his breath, when there was a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Spider-Man.

"Sorry," he croaked. His throat was raw from the yelling and his ghostly wails.

"No worries, dude. Been there, done that. I made a plan with Iron Man to get it off of you. Those robots were holograms. We had to trick you into using your ghostly wail to weaken Venom so we could finish the job."

"I appreciate it." Danny took Spidey's outstretched hand and pulled himself up, leaning on Spidey as they walked away from the destruction Danny had caused.

It felt good to be free again.


	34. Venom part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Danny facing a venom that now understands his psyche as much as it grasps people like Spidey, Eddie Brock, etc?

Danny growled as he pulled himself from the building he was thrown into. Venom had broken out of SHIELD custody (wow, what a shocker) and went straight for Danny, who had been doing the same patrol route for a year. The same one he went on when he had bound to Venom.

He probably should have switched it up a little.

Just as he got back on his feet, he felt something tight wrap around his ankle and haul him up until they were several hundred feet in the air, Danny dangling from Venom's grasp over the busy New York street below. It was a good thing he could fly.

Venom used his elasticity to wrap around Danny, virtually tying him up, and pinned him against the wall, cracking he glass with his head.

"Aw," Venom hissed, "Poor little Danny is all tied up." Venom's brought his face right next to Danny's ear and whispered, "So good to see you again, Fenton."

Danny shuddered and tried wiggling away, but Venom's grip was to strong. He sucked in a large breathe, and Venom's gooey body wrapped around the lower half of his face, preventing him from using his ghostly wail again.

"I know you. You're a helpless little kid without the powers. Without them you're nothing. With them you're hated. You don't belong with the mutants, ghosts, or humans," he hissed. Danny felt his heart sink. He had been attached to Venom for so long…He knew all of his secrets and insecurities.

"You're a freak!" He pulled Danny forward and slammed him back into the glass crater his head had previously made. "You're smart but you fail! You're a cocky wiseass but you use it to cover up your fear because deep down you know you're the one who's most afraid."

Venom was trying to get into Danny's head, and unfortunately he was succeeding.

"You were a worthless wannabe superhero with a boy scout complex before I came along. I made you brave and strong."

Every word hit him like a train. Every comment about whatever he felt deep down in his core, he knew was right. But now that it was verbalized, well, it was even worse. Danny shook his head, and tried to focus more on getting out than he did on trying not to cry.

"Hm, if your parents knew do you think they would hunt you down for sport?" Venom asked, squeezing Danny tighter. It was a good thing he didn't have to breathe as often as humans. Otherwise he would be suffocating right now.

He writhed beneath Venom, trying to go intangible and sink into the building he was being held against, but to no avail.

But wait. He had a special button on his glove that contacted the Avengers. If he could just reach it, he would only have to stand this for a few more minutes.

"You're surprisingly weaker than Parker," he hissed into his ear. Venom's large tongue dripped saliva all over his shoulder, making Danny absolutely repulsed. He wiggled his hands a little closer. "He fought and fought and fought. He was able to resist me all by himself. But you? You're a pathetic excuse for a hero. For a person. For a ghost. Are you neither or both? You won;t certainly live long enough to find out."

He smashed his head into the glass over and over again until it broke. Then Venom threw him into the office cubicles that occupied the room. He landed half way across the large room, trying to take in a large breath but was unable to due to the patch of Venom that latched itself around Danny's mouth, preventing him from coming up with a clever quip or letting out his ghostly wail.

His hands erupted with green energy as he blasted Venom. He hit him square in the shoulder, but Venom just put himself back together. He chuckled ominously as the spider logo on his chest turned to Danny's logo.

"You're not gonna last long. Soon, you'll turn into Dan," the creature hissed. "It's destiny.''

Danny's aura flared as he built up another energy ball, this time mixed with his ice powers, and aimed it at Venom. There was no way this thing could dodge it.

However, before he could launch it at the monster, he was hit in the face with something. His energy ball dissipated and he fell to the ground. But when he got back up he realized he could talk again. However, he didn't. No, Danny just grit his teeth and flew straight towards Venom, taking him by the shoulders. He coated his hands in ice so Venom wouldn't try to swallow him. He dragged the symbiotic monster up to the sky, far away from the city, and let out his most powerful ability.

Even though they were several hundred feet in the air, he knew the street lamps and car windows broke as soon as he opened his mouth and let out his ghostly wail. And he didn't stop. Not even when he was punched in the chest and the black goo started to try to cover him. Instead, he focused all of his power into his scream and into his core, making it so cold it burned.

He couldn't hear him, but he knew Venom was screaming as his form wavered. He was still writhing in Danny's grip when his voice died out, and when Iron Man came up behind him and put him in a special containment unit. He smashed himself against the glass, trying desperately to break free, but he couldn't.

"Thanks," Danny panted.

Iron Man tried putting his hand on Danny's shoulder, but he wouldn't let him. Danny didn't want to be touched right now, thank you very much. What he needed to do was find Wilson. He would be able to help. Maybe he could use his therapy stuff to help Danny sort through his feelings or help him cope.

No, Danny decided. This is my problem.

"Are you okay Danny?" Stark asked.

"Yeah," Danny nodded, "I'm fine."


	35. Venom part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Could you please do a thing where Venom is bonded to Vlad (who's trying and failing to fight it) and Danny decides that he has to convince Venom to leave Vlad to take Danny?

"Hmm, what are you?" Vlad half asked himself, half asked his cat, as he watched the black slime crawl onto his desk. He poked at it, watching it rise up. It was only a tiny little blob, smaller than his cat's paw, but it grasped onto his finger and grew exponentially. It slid its way under his clothes and around his body, making him highly uncomfortable for a brief moment.

It was a strange sensation to have such a thing on him. Something in the back of his mind told him to get rid of it, but another part of him told him to keep it. He felt as though it had promised him great riches in the future, and how could Vlad pass up an opportunity like that? Riches didn't have to necessarily mean money, after all.

He smiled his trademark sinister smile and transformed into Plasmius, already feeling his powers increase. He felt like he could take over the whole Ghost Zone!

His cat starred at him fearfully as he laughed maniacally before disappearing through the floor.

A part of Vlad knew this was wrong. He's never wanted to kill Danny before, only his father. He tried resisting against the goo, but it already had a strong hold on him. He tried taking it off, blasting it off, and everything else in between, but nothing worked. The only thing that worked was Venom getting into Vlad's head, making him see the wrong kind of reason. And Vlad, even though he didn't want to, liked it.

After all, he had a halfa to go exterminate.

—

It was supposed to be a normal day. No ghost attacks. No homework. No birds pooping on him.

But of course, his day off with Sam and Tucker came to a quick end when Plasmius showed up. First it was his ghost sense, and then Vlad had invisibly pulled him from his booth at the Nasty Burger and dragged him up into the sky before throwing him into a nearby building. He hit it so hard he actually went through the bricks. If he was any normal human he probably would have died, but thankfully he wasn't a normal human.

He was Danny Phantom.

He transformed into Phantom before pulling his head out of the rubble, only to be met face to face with a different version of Plasmius that sent chills down Danny's spine.

His suit was black instead of the normal eerie white he had become accustomed to over the years. His eyes and the inside of his cape were still red, but that did nothing to soothe the feeling of fear crawling up Danny's throat.

"Vlad?" he asked in disbelief.

"Ah, yes Daniel," he said with a satisfied grin, "You are looking at the new and approved Vlad Plasmius! With the help of my little friend I am a hundred times stronger than before! It's such a shame you won't be able to see what all I can do."

"Oh yeah?" Danny asked. Stalling. Stalling was a good tactic. Right? "And why is that?"

"Because you'll be dead."

Oh, yikes.

Danny quickly dodged a few ectoblasts before using the building as a springboard and launching himself at Vlad, ready to hit him with n energy-charged punch.

He never have a chance.

Vlad saw him coming from miles away. He gripped Danny's throat tight, more so than usual, and squeezed even harder. He was starting to see black around his vision, trying so desperately to get away from his parents old college friend.

And then he saw it.

Right there, under Vlad's collar, was a a black slime Danny had been acquainted with on several occasions. He growled and blasted Vlad in the chest, making him loosen his grip enough for Danny to free himself.

"Vlad, listen to me!" He called. "You're being influenced by an alien slime!"

"Oh, I know," he said pridefully. "It's amazing what these things can do to someone like me."

Why would Venom want Vlad? Because they're both evil? Because they both hate Danny? Because they both want him?

Wait.

That was it. Venom wanted Danny back. It didn't like Vlad as much as Danny, who had a lot of emotional baggage. And Danny had already bonded with the damned thing. He was Venom's host for months!

"But Venom doesn't really like you!" Danny called. "He likes me! We go way back! Isn't that right, Venom?" Danny called.

Vlad felt squirmy. It was his pet alien sticking and unsticking itself to Vlad, rippling with eagerness at the thought of the younger Halfa.

"Hey, Venom!" Danny called, shaking his butt towards Vlad. "If you want me, come and get me!"

Venom stayed, latched onto Vlad, but it was obvious he wanted Danny more than one reason alone. He was young. Inexperienced. But most importantly, he had such raw power. Power that could take down the world. He wanted it oh so badly, but he was stuck to the older of the two instead.

Venom saw as Danny continued shaking his behind at him, mocking him. Then Danny launched himself at Vlad, grasping for Venom. It seemed as though Danny wanted Venom back as well.

As soon as Vlad gripped Danny's arms, Venom slipped off of him and onto Danny, encasing him in his center so he could harness the power of the boy until he burned out. Thankfully a ghost core could last several lifetimes.

Danny screamed and tried to resist as his mind and body became overrun by the black tar, but Vlad was finally free, his mind clear of the alien. His intentions were only a little bad now, and right then, when he saw Daniel being overcome by the alien, he had a need to help the boy. But he didn't know how.

Oh, heavens, what had he done?


	36. Redemption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Danny and Loki fighting each other. They both realize how of alike they are, how broken they feel. Danny helps Loki to redeem.

Danny hit the ground hard and bounced a couple of times before finally rolling to a stop. He looked over at Loki, who was slowly walking towards him as he stood back up, ignoring the pain in his robs. He used his ice powers to hold Loki to the ground while he hit him with ectoblasts. Loki had lost his staff somewhere in that time, and Danny was too fast for him to counterattack, so he stood there taking the brunt of the onslaught.

Oh, but wait. He could still talk.

"I know how you feel, halfling," Loki said. Danny stopped, inches away from Loki's jaw, and gave him a quizzical look.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You want to do good, but nobody trusts you to do so because you're not one of them," he replied with a solemn tone. "I wanted to hep my kingdom, and they shunned me. All my life I was looked at as a freak, and I had no idea why. Not until recently that is. I'm a Frost Giant disguised as an Asgardian, but you, halfling, have it much worse. And I pity you."

"I…I don't need your pity," Danny said. He forced himself to make eye contact with Loki, toxic green against venomous, understanding emerald.

"Then you won't have it," the god replied. "Just know that I understand your pain, and a pain like that, well, it is incomprehensible to people who have never had the trouble of experiencing it."

Danny lowered his fist and backed away. The ice around Loki melted away, and he came over and placed a hand on Danny's shoulder comfortingly.

"It's like," Danny said, "You don't belong anywhere. I'm not a human or a ghost. Or maybe I'm both? And yeah, I have family and friends in both but it doesn't feel right in either world, you know?"

"I do know," Loki nodded. "Odin killed my tribe, including my father, when I was an infant, and he took me in and raised me with Thor. He and my mother, Fregga, were the only ones to treat me with respect. Odin, he looked down on me. I used y anger at him and blamed Thor for it. For having to live in his shadow growing up, not realizing that I too had my own shadow."

Danny couldn't keep fighting Loki. He didn't have the energy to do so any longer, if he was being honest. But now, he understood.

When he had met the Avengers he was met with negativity towards Loki for all of the bad things he had done. And while his childhood neglect didn't excuse him from his actions, he understood where he was coming from. If Danny hadn't had such a good support system, he probably would have turned out the same way. All he needed were friends that actually loved and respected him, like Danny had.

"Hey, Loki?" He asked.

"Yes, halfling?" Loki turned his gaze from the horizon to him, giving him a warm smile that looked foreign on his face.

"Do you want to…Go to the Tower?"

"I couldn't, not with your friends. The Avengers. Not with Thor there."

"Oh, come on, Danny insisted. "You could try not killing people and you could try getting along with them over a couple episodes of Super Nanny."

Some part of that intrigued Loki, because it only took him a few more moments to agree to come with Danny.

He gripped the god's forearms and lifted him over the city and to the Tower, which was thankfully only a few short minutes away. And he knew everybody as home due to Danny being the only one bored enough to be on patrol.

They landed in Iron Man's spot and walked inside the giant glass archway. There was a bar to the left, but they ignored it and took the elevator instead, to get to the living area where he knew the other Avengers were at.

They cracked a couple of jokes and laughed on the way down, both of them trying to ease any tension the both of them had. After all, if you're the reason the Avengers banded together you were a pretty bad dude.

As soon as he walked out of the elevator, all weapons were on him and Loki. Cap with his shield, Cline with his arrow, Natasha with her guns, and so on and so forth.

"Danny, what are you doing?" Tony asked. All he had was the glove he had been tinkering with, but he heard the hum of it powering up, and decided not to test the waters.

"I brought Loki back to the Tower because-"

"-There can't be a possibly good reason for this!" Clint interrupted. He was giving Loki the most intense glare Danny had ever seen.

"The halfling said I could come by," Loki said, raising his hands in a form of surrender. "Please, I will not do any of you harm."

"What is all the commotion about?" It was Thor from the other room. Danny heard the hum of the hammer and Thor's chewing before he walked into the room, eyes immediately going to Danny and Loki.

"Brother?" He asked. "What business do you have here?" He demanded. He didn't sound as angry as Clint, but he didn't really seem happy about it either.

"I have come to…Apologize," Loki said. "My actions were extreme and ignorant, and I assure you I will never do such thing again."

"Oh, so you think that just because you waltz in here with our friend we're gonna trust you? No, man, it doesn't work that way," Sam stated.

"I'm not asking for your trust, for I know that has to be earned. All I am asking for is forgiveness."

Clint charged, arrow ready, but Danny stood in between the archer and the god and stopped Clint from hurting Loki, much to his surprise.

"Why are you defending him?!" Clint shouted angrily.

"Because I'm just like him!" Danny countered. The whole room became still as everyone starred at Danny, waiting for him to explain. He took a deep breath in to calm himself.

"I looked at Loki, and I saw myself. I saw the scared little kid who didn't know where he belonged. And you know what? I would have turned out exactly like him if I hadn't had Sam or Tucker or you guys. So I say lets give him a chance, yeah?"

"I agree with Daniel," Thor said, stepping forward. He looked down at Loki, searching his eyes for a moment before smiling and pulling his younger brother into a tight hug. He knew his brother well enough by now to see through his deception, but there was none here. Loki really, truly wanted to redeem himself.

"Just give him a chance," Danny pleaded. "You gave me another chance after my whole evil future self incident. And that only happened because my support system died. Well, that's what's happening to Loki right now, so how about we try and be his support system."

"Fine." Tony was the first one to speak. "But if he tries anything, I'm beating the shit out of him myself."

"I'm with Tony," Steve said. "Anything at all and you're done."

Once he had Tony and Steve's blessing, it didn't take long for the others to bitterly agree as well. The only one who wasn't on board was Clint. Instead of agreeing he left the room.

"Well, I hope that you all will, in time, be able to trust me. Now, Daniel, I believe you said something about Super Nanny? What is that?" Loki looked confused. Danny chuckled and led him to the living room.

"The only good reality show in America."


	37. King

Steven Grant Rogers had never been one to believe in ghost. When he came back, the only ghost he knew was Bucky, and he was alive and running from the government of several countries. But walking through walls and disappearing ghosts, well, those he never concerned himself with. They were all just a myth. After all, if ghosts existed he would see more of them.

He would have seen the Commandos.

But looking around in this green sky and purple ground, he might have been having second thoughts. He had been sent here by Loki and his dumb portal, and then captured by a knight who claimed he was a ghost. The walking through walls, disappearing type.

He was led by the silent knight to a large, medieval castle that was mostly white with a green trim. Strange.

The large (green) double doors opened, showing Steve the long red carpet and neat stonework of the interior walls. At the end of the carpet sat an empty throne, a staff leaning against it.

The knight pushed Steve forward harshly, and he was pretty sure he was going to have a bruise there. He probably would have fallen if he hadn't been Captain freaking America. Unfortunately, the knight had taken his shield and wore it himself. The color scheme looked awful against the purple armor.

"Listen, I'll take care of Fright Knight, darling. You go and have the housemaid give you a back rub. I'll be there soon."

It was only a few moments later that the voice came out. It belonged to a white haired man who had glowing green eyes. On his head was a crown with green and purple jewels, and on his shoulders was a long, dark cape.

"Fright Knight, let him go. I'm sure this is all a big misunderstanding," he said, waving the knight off. What kind of a name was Fright Knight? It didn't matter though. The knight stepped away and the obvious king stepped forward.

"Hello, Captain," he said politely, sticking out his hand for Steve to shake. It didn't want to piss off royalty, so he shook the white glove that was outstretched. The king gave him a warm smile despite his touch being colder than ice.

"Where am I?" Steve asked. He didn't want to come off as rude, but he needed to get back tot he fight. His friends were probably in trouble.

"You, sir, are in the Ghost Zone. Home of all ectoplasmic beings. Now, what brings you to the afterlife? You're obviously not dead."

Steve glanced behind the king at a portrait hanging above the wall. It was a photo of him and the Commandos and Peggy, all smiling at the camera and having a good time. So he was a fan.

"I'm in trouble. I was sent here by Thor's brother, Loki. We were fighting him in South Africa," he stated simply. He had no time for small talk. But the king seemed to perk up at that.

"Loki? The Asgardian? Father of Hela?" He asked, bewildered. Steve nodded, sneaking another glance at the picture above the throne.

"Nice picture you have there," he said.

"Yes, thank you. You can't tell, but I'm in between Dugan and Barnes. Just invisible. You guys were an inspiration. Anyway, I can take you back to your friends and take care of your little Loki problem. He's disturbed my realm and Hela's for long enough now."

He put his hand on Steve's shoulder and squeezed. Steve blinked, and somewhere in that split second they had gone from the throne room to a charred city where Iron Man was being blasted into a building. Steve's shield was back on his arm where it never should have left.

"How did you do that?" He asked. The king scoffed.

"Please, I'm the king of the Ghost Zone, man. And call me Danny. King sounds to formal if you're not Fright Knight." With that, he winked and then flew straight up and towards wherever Loki was. Steve followed him on foot.

 

"Loki! How are you doing?" Danny called, his cape billowing in the wind. Loki actually looked intimidated.

"It's been a while, Dragaur," he said snidely.  
"Yes but I've become much more powerful since I took the throne. Now, we could do this the easy way, where I send you back to Odin, or I can beat you within an inch of your life and send you back to Odin." His hands erupted into green energy, making him look all the more powerful. "It's your choice."

Loki rolled his eyes and stood up. He pointed his staff at Danny, thought for a moment, and lowered it again before placing it on the ground and holding out his wrists.

"As I thought. Now, Captain, I believe he is all yours. And if you guys ever need anything just stop by. There are natural portals to the Zone everywhere. Buh-bye now."

He gave a little wave and disappeared, leaving them to take care of Loki on their own. Clint sighed in awe.

"Man, do you have a story to tell us."


	38. Venom part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: could you do a sequel to the last venom story with Vlad trying to fix it?
> 
> Also, I have more drabbles on ff.net, I'm just not done transferring them to here. My pen name there is the same without the underscore.

Vlad, for the most part, only saw one option to get this fixed the fastest: Daniel's idiotic super friends, the Avengers. Or to that godforsaken Spider-Boy, who Vlad knew had dealt with the symbiote plenty of times. Either way, he had to get that thing off of Daniel. For once he was willing to admit that this was partially his fault. And although he and Daniel had been rivals, he was Madeline's son. As much as he wished he could, a part of him couldn't let him suffer like this. He had to do something.

So to New York he went, invading the walls of the Avenger's Tower. He flew up through the separate rooms of the top floors, trying to find where any one Avenge could be. Luckily, instead of finding one he found four in the living area.

There was no time for dramatic effect, unfortunately, so he just had to settle with letting his invisibility down and them freaking out for only a moment. The Captain grabbed his shield and pulled back to throw it as the archer-his face stuffed with pizza-grabbed for his arrows that were on the floor by his feet. The one in red tight-the spider-had dropped down from the ceiling, ready to fight or flight, Vlad couldn't really tell. Stark, his failed business partner thanks to Daniel, was pointing his hand at him, ready to fire from the glove that appeared from the watch he wore on his wrist. He held up his hands, the universal signal for don't shoot, and stepped forward.

"I need your help," he said bitterly. He didn't have time to waste when the alien was eating away at Daniel's conciseness as they spoke.

"With what, Plasmius?" Captain America demanded. His voice was stern but there was something underlying it. Vlad couldn't tell what it was, but he knew he would get hurt by him if he didn't tell them why.

"Your beloved Phantom had been overcome by a black gooey alien," he said simply.

"That's Venom," Spider-Man stated, straightening up a bit. He looked at Cap, and Vlad had to assume he was looking worried. "But he's bottles up safely, how did he get out?"

"Partially my fault, I'm afraid," Vlad admitted. "I had some of by slaves steal it from your possession so I could use it against my enemies. It latched onto me an went after Daniel, and then he persuaded the thing to stick to him rather than me. Now he's running about, and I don't know how to beat it. But you all do."

"What about your ghostly wail, like Danny has?" The archer asked. "That'll take care of it."

"I would but that is not a power that I possess. Now, are you going to help your friend or not?"

They found him in the country, away from people. He was in the middle of a large field, screaming and throwing ice and ecto-energy at himself. He was trying to tear it off of him, bending this way and that, but Venom wouldn't let go.

Clint knocked an arrow and fired, hitting Venon-Phantom-Phanton?-square in the back, watching as the beast screamed, the electric current flowing over its body. It barely phased the guy. It only detached from Danny for a split second, but that was enough for Danny to take in a large breath and get a small bit of leverage against the alien.

Vlad shot him a couple of times, the pink ectoblasts sending Phanton back several yards. Danny lost his concentration, and his head was absorbed by Venom again. Somebody behind him yelled at him, and judging fro that person jumping on his shoulders and using him as a springboard. Spider-Man hurtled himself down to the ground, aiming straight for Phanton because there were no buildings for him to use his web. If he didn't hit the duo he would get really hurt.

He hit them hard, gripping the beings back as they rolled over, and sent several thousand volts of electricity into the monster possessing his best super friend. About half of Venom detached himself from Danny, and Spidey kinda felt bad for hurting Danny too, but this was one of the only ways.

He was about to up the voltage, but a large, black tentacle thing swung back and hit him in the face, knocking him off and sending him flying to the side.

Stark was next to try, shooting out tiny little robots that sunk into Venom and then pointing his wrist ray at him. As he was being electrocuted once again, he was also being hit with sonic waves. When Danny was half way free, Spider-Man came and pulled him free, taking on all of Danny's weight. He was just barely conscious, making quiet mumbling noises.

Venom, angry that his vessel had been taken from him, charged at Spider-Man. He couldn't defend himself and protect Danny when he was half laying on him, so his best option was to scoot back and hope that Venom never caught up.

Right when he was about to reach them, Vlad stepped forward and threw up a ghost shield, blocking Venom from hurting the two boys. When he bounced back off of it, he used his powers to make a force field around the alien, trapping it until they got him back to his proper containment unit.

Stark flew down and stuck a jar into the shield and turned it on. With the powerful winds that Vlad felt inside of the shield, Venom's only option was to be sucked back in. Once that was done, he dropped the shield and looked over at Danny. He was lying in Spider-Man's lap, and instead of Phantom, he was the young Fenton. All of the heroes ran towards their friend , giving Vlad enough of distraction to disappear.

Daniel was safe in the arms of his friends, and he would live to fight Vlad another day. Vlad couldn't have been more content.


	39. Pranks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Danny in a prank war w someone (a villain maybe? or hero, either would be awesome)

Danny didn't let himself make a noise as he watched from the corner of his room, invisible, as Clint snuck in. Sam had gotten him some chocolate bunnies for Easter, and someone had been stealing them from him. So he left a little surprise in them.

Clint unwrapped the foil around the small candy and popped it into his mouth. Danny had to suppress his laughter at Clint's disgusted expression. He had to thank Tucker for the idea of filling the chocolates with mustard. He quickly took a picture of Clint trying to get the taste out of his mouth and left.

Lucky for him, this was just the first of many pranks he would pull. Revenge certainly was sweet.

It was supposed to be just a normal day in the lab. he would upgrade his armors and maybe give FRIDAY some new software he and the Foley kid made. It was going to be quiet minus the classic rock he blasted from the speakers, because even geniuses needed help focusing sometimes. But he knew something was immediately wrong when it went from AC/DC to the Bee Gees.

Stayin' Alive blasted through the speakers, and no matter how many times he told FRIDAY to shut it off, she wouldn't.

And then things got really weird when DUM-E and a couple of his other helpers started to do some weird robot synchronized dancing. Tony knew he didn't program them to do that. But as long as they weren't breaking anything, fixing them could wit until later. After all, he had some more important things to do.

Three hours later an the same song was still playing on repeat, and his robots were still dancing, and FRIDAY still wouldn't stop them. He rubbed his face and tried getting them to stop by pulling out the wiring for one of the bots. The wiring he knew should have shut them down. But they kept on dancing. He yelled in frustration, not noticing the stifled laughter coming from the vents from the Tower's two best friends, Danny and Tucker.

\--------------  
Danny sighed, feeling refreshed after his shower. Thankfully there was a bathroom in his room, so he didn't have t share, and his dresser was closer.

He held up his towel with one hand and was attempting to dry his hair with another towel in the other as he headed to his dresser to grab some boxers.

Which were not in his drawers.

In fact, all of them were empty. There were no socks, shirts, shorts, shirts, anything. His large walk-in closet was empty as well, as if nobody had ever hung their clothes up in there. He wrapped his extra towel over the one already on his waist and walked out of his room. He had a feeling he knew exactly who to look for.

He was in the kitchen making coffee, arguing about ghost physics or something. Danny marched right up to him and looked him square in the eyes, not backing down.

"Tony, what did you do with my clothes?" he demanded. Tony gave him a confused look.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied calmly.

"You're lying," Danny insisted, really hoping that Tony was the one who did it. Stark shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. Danny's heart sunk. "Well if it wasn't you, who was it?"

"I don't now, but I bet you they're on the roof. I'm pretty sure that's your shirt falling from the sky."

When Danny made it to the roof it was none other than Clint and...

And Sam?

"Traitor!" He yelled at his girlfriend as she tossed a pair of his favorite sweats into the sky. She just smirked and continued whatever she was doing.

"What are you doing?" He asked, walking up to her and stupidly ignoring Clint. "I thought we were partners in crime!"

"Not when you pull these dumb pranks on everybody, Danny. Maybe you should try pranking someone who deserves it." Another one of his shirts was gone, and he was starting to feel a draft. He didn't know   
how to feel about it.

But one thing he did know was that she was right. And he knew exactly who to go to.

He suddenly felt a sharp tug at his waist and whirled around, only to see Clint's disappointed look as he held one towel in his hand. The other one was somehow still around Danny's waist.

"But-" Clint started. Danny cut him off when he grabbed a shirt and hit him with it. He couldn't stay long.

After all, he had some business to take care of.

\------------------  
The Red Skull was a dignified person. He had always prided himself in it, on top of being a cunning mastermind. And as such, he would not stand for this. He would kill whoever did this to his portraits hanging on every room in the base.

Every single picture or painting of him had a picture of Nicholas Cage's face superglued to his. It was unflattering and downright stupid.

Danny laughed all the way home.


	40. King part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Could you do a sequel to King at some point?

Steve never thought he would ever meet him again. After all, it had been five years, and neither he or any other ghost had showed their face on the earth. Not since he got blasted to Ghost Zone by Loki and then kidnapped by Fright Knight.

But then again, anything could happen in a HYDRA cell.

He was sharing one with a little girl, who had green skin and white hair. She had thorns poking out of her arms, and her eyes were green with bright red irises. She was just a little kid. A small, cute, glowing kid.

"Hi, there," he said in a soft, gentle voice in an attempt to calm her down. She flinched away from him, curling into herself, and Steve couldn't help but notice the bright green bracelet around her ankle, blinking methodically. "My name is Captain America," he tried again. "What's yours?"

"I-Ivory," she whimpered. Ivory sniffed and wiped away the tear that fell off of her cheek.

"Hey, listen," he said, voice still gentle. "I'm gonna get us out of here, okay?"

"H-how?" Ivory didn't sound as scared, and Steve couldn't tell whether or not she was faking it.

"Really carefully. Um...Do you have anything sharp? I cold pick the lock on the door."

She shrugged and stood up, her pink sundress bouncing as she did so. She searched her pockets and pulled out a plastic screwdriver.

"Will this work?" She asked. Steve nodded and took it from her before getting to work. It was a perfect fit, but it was also plastic, so he didn't actually know how well it was going to work. He might just have to break his shoulder to get the large, metal door down. But then there would be no stealth.

After a couple minutes of trying, he pulled the screwdriver out and handed it back to Ivory.

"I'm sorry it didn't work," she said sadly. Steve waved her off.

"Don't worry about it. Where are you from?" He needed to take her mind off of what could happen to them. She shrugged and started to play with her long, white hair. He had a feeling he already knew the answer, though.

"Um...Daddy told me to never tell anybody..." She said nervously. Steve gave her a warm smile.

"And who is your father?"

"King of the Ghosts," she said proudly. "I'm a princess!"

"I actually know him," Steve said. "He's a good friend of mine."

That meant that the anklet was suppressing her powers. He scooted closer to her, trying to make himself as small as possible.

"I might be able to break this," he told her. "And then you can walk us through the walls. Does that sound okay to you?" She nodded and stuck out her ankle. Apparently knowing her father had its perks. It meant you were automatically on his daughter's good side.

Steve gripped both sides of it and pulled as hard as he could. His face was turning red with exertion, but after a few tries at finally crumpled in his hands, the pieces flying everywhere as he tore it to shreds. He helped her up and held out his hand for her to take. She wrapped her hand around three of his fingers, and he could feel the tingle run down his spine as they walked through the door together.

However, there were several guards down the long hallway. He pulled Ivory into his arms and covered her with his body as they shot at him. e dodged and rolled, keeping her safely tucked into his chest as he took them down one by one before running down to the armory to retrieve his shield. Once he had that, he told her it was safe to look again.

"You're damn right it is."

Steve whirled around, only to see his old friend Danny with a big grin on his face. He held out his arms and Ivory jumped out of Steve's and into Danny's. But Steve had seen through the fake smile. His eyes were burning with hatred for the people who kidnapped his daughter.

"Where's mommy?" Ivory asked.

"Well, let's go see," Danny said. He put Ivory on his shoulders and grabbed Steve's arm, and within the blink of an eye hey were in the main lab. But it wasn't how Steve remembered it.

Everything was covered in large plants and mutant Venus fly traps. It was truly a sight to see. In the middle of it all was a woman with short, black hair and a green knee-length dress with glowing red eyes. Danny looked at her lovingly.

"There she is!" he said excitedly. "Look at what she did with all of the bad guys!"

It was true. All of them had been taken down by the vines or eaten by the mutant plants. Skull, though, was nowhere to be seen.

The woman walked over to them, looking as strong as ever, and hugged her daughter tightly. Then she turned to Steve.

"You're Captain America?" She asked. He nodded, and she stuck out her hand. "I'm Sam, Danny's wife. It's so nice to finally meet you," they shook hands, and Steve ind of felt like he was dreaming. Everything was so surreal.

"Do you-wanna join us for dinner?" He asked stupidly. What else was he supposed to say to the Queen of the Ghosts. Ivory lit up at the thought, and both she and Danny gave Sam the pouty face. Sam rolled her eyes and sighed, a smile gracing her lips.

"Yes, we would be happy to," she said. "Thank you. For everything." Steve smiled and scratched the back of his head.

"It was my pleasure, Ma'am."

Next to them, Danny laughed as he spun Ivory around.

"So," he said, "What's for dinner?"


	41. Dream a Little Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: A villain shows the avengers their worst fears and this is how they learn about dan?

Dr. Strange hummed as he led Phantom, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Wolverine through someplace he liked to call the Dream Realm. One of the Doc's old villains, Nightmare, had returned, drawing people into endless sleep to feed off of their nightmares so he could grow powerful enough to escape the Dream Realm. Sounded easy, but if they got caught in the Dream Realm there was no going back to the real one, so they had to be extra careful.

They walked along a path full of doors, but they didn't look like they opened up anywhere. Phantom opened one and he and Spidey peered inside.

It was Cap's dream. He was in an empty dance hall with a beautiful woman in a red dress, swaying back and forth to the music with no origin.

"We can finally go home, Steve. The war is over," she said. She sounded absolutely gorgeous. But before they could keep watching, Wolverine came and slammed the door.

"That ain't your business," he told them before stalking off towards Dr. Strange. Spider-Man mocked him in a funny voice, and Danny turned into a giggling mess. Neither of them wanted to know what Cap's biggest fear meant.

Then a blast of black energy came out of nowhere, hitting Spider-Man in the back. He flew forward, landing only a couple of feet behind Iron Man, who whirled around and started blasting Nightmare and…

"Who is that guy?" Wolverine asked, unsheathing his claws.

"Nocturn," Phantom said, turning paler by the second. But he quickly gained his footing and sent an ice blast at Nocturn's face. It hit him dead on, but did practically nothing to phase him. He grabbed Phantom by the throat and lifted him up, feeling both Nocturn and Nightmare's powers pulling at his mind, making him wan to sleep but he couldn't. If he failed here there was no going back.

Nocturn laughed and threw him to the ground, laughing maniacally alongside Nightmare, who was apparently having a blast. Dr. Strange flew after him, pulling out his magical chains as another being started to beat Phantom up.

He was blue with white hair and his logo, and Phantom suddenly found himself unable to move. They hadn't been trying to get him to go to sleep, they had been searching for his biggest fear.

His biggest fear was Dan Phantom.

"Who is that guy?" Spidey called, jumping in to help Phantom up.

"Later," Phantom replied. Dan chuckled darkly and used his powers to swat Spider-Man away. When Phantom made a move to go after him, he as blasted backwards. Phantom tried getting up, but a large boot came down on his chest. Dan leaned in close to Phantom's ear with a grin, his forked tongue swishing this way and that.

"Miss me?"

Danny squeezed his eyes shut and looked over at the bigger fight. Dr. Strange and Wolverine were tag teaming against Nightmare while Spider-Man and Iron Man took on Nocturn. Missiles that weren't Stark's flew in every which way, while several soldiers from the early 1900s, maybe WWI or WWII, fought alongside Nightmare. He looked like he was getting stronger with every passing minute. Danny strained against the being that was holding him down.

He pressed his foot further into Phantom's chest before grabbing his throat and lifting him up. Phantom's throat burned from the energy Dan was emitting, making it harder for him to speak. Meaning he probably couldn't use his ghostly wail.

But he had gotten stronger over the years since they had last seen each other. He had gotten taller and broader, and now he was almost as big as Dan.

Over to his side he heard Spider-man cry, "No! Aunt May!" And he had o force himself not to look. It was just a mind trick. Nothing more than that.

He wrapped his legs around Dan's arm and twisted, bringing him down to the ground. Phantom stood up and quickly took a few steps back. He glanced over at the fight, and it looked like they had things under control. Sort of.

Dan got back on his feet and tackled him into another door.

It was bright and outside inside of the door. They were in a desert-like area. Arizona or Nevada probably. It was completely empty aside from the small man in a lab coat and glasses hiding under a rock. It was Bruce, and behind they rock was Hulk. But weren't they one and the same?

Phantom dodged a hit from Dan and wept his legs out from under him, pulling out an ecto-ray he kept on his belt that Stark had specially made for him, to make his ghost hunting needs a little easier. He hit Dan with the green beam and he went flying, bouncing off of the ground once before rolling to a stop. Bruce nor the Hulk gave them a second glance.

Danny ran and tackled Dan as he got up, sending them back outside onto the pathway with the multi-colored sky. He tried punching Dan in the face, but he caught his fist and flung him towards Nocturn.

Nocturn. That was it. He and Nightmare were the cause of Dan. Dan wasn't actually there.

"Everyone, back up!" He yelled. Iron Man and Spider-Man listened, half-dragging Wolverine with them. Dr. Strange was standing up again.

Dan charged at him again, and Phantom was ready for him. As his evil future self wrapped his arms around Danny from behind, he gripped his arm and flung him over his shoulder towards the two dream thieves. Then he sucked in a large breath and yelled.

The first time he had used his Ghostly Wail, he almost passed out form the amount of energy it took away from him. But he had been using it more often to get used to it, to build up immunity to the exhaustion. To make them last longer.

Long enough to last almost two whole minutes.

By the time he was done, Nocturn had disappeared, Nightmare was holding onto the edge of the path, not wanting to fall into the endless abyss below, and Dan, who had managed to stay on top using a door. His flaming hair had disappeared, making him look like a bald version of Danny.

Danny walked forward, ignoring the weakened Dan and stepping on Nightmare's hands, making him scream in pain.

"Don't mess with our world again," he threatened. With his hands charged with ectoplasmic energy, Nightmare didn't need to be told twice. He got his hands out from under Danny's boot and fell into the endless multi-colored sky.

"That was awesome," Spidey breathed.

"Who was that, kid?" Wolverine asked. Danny didn't want to answer, but a part of him always knew they would have found out about Dan sooner or later. But that didn't mean he couldn't put off the story for another couple of hours. He sighed.

"I'll tell you, but after we get everybody woken up. Okay?" He had never been more thankful that they agreed.


	42. Blast to the Past

Natural portals were both a good and bad thing in Danny's book. The were bad because the would pop up out of nowhere and take him to places he never asked to be, but the were also good because sometimes that was exactly what the needed.

However, he had no idea how to feel about this one.

The sky was grey and lifeless, and there went any buildings. Just trees and a dirt path leading to a giant wave of smoke in the distance.

Danny didn't know if it was because of years of fighting ghosts and super villains, but his gut was screaming at him yo check it out. He turned invisible and flew towards what he probably shouldn't.

It only took him a few short minutes but in those short minutes the threat had been neutralized.

By Captain America.

Danny flew down and his behind a tank despite being invisible, and watched as Cap and some other guys, came together again.

"Wait," Cap said. "Where's Buck?"

"Right here you fuckin' punk," he hollered. Danny's eyes bulged out of his skull at the sight if Bucky Barnes.

He was wearing and odd, blue uniform with a rifle strapped to his back. His hair was short and the had a cocky, easy going grin plastered onto his face. And both of his arms were flesh.

"I'm in World War II," Danny muttered to himself. Slightly in shock, slightly in relief. Because Cap knew Tony's dad meaning he could build a portal and get back home!

"What was that?" The guy in the bowler hat asked. If Danny was right, that guy was Dug Dug Dugan. A member of the Howling Commandos like Steve and Bucky.

It took all of Danny's willpower to not fanboy and make a fool of himself. He had almost all of the Howling Commandos comic books. He stopped collecting when Steve started telling stories.

It was the that Danny realized that if the wanted their help he would have to reveal himself. But the wasn't going to turn into Fenton. Just stay as Phantom.

He slowly came out of his hiding spot, dropping his invisibility and holding his hands up in the universal sign of  _ Please Don't Hurt Me _ .

"It was me," Danny said, taking a step forward. "And I need you help."

"And how do we know you're not HYDRA?" Bucky asked, aiming his rifle at what Danny knew was his beautiful face.

"Because I hate them. They experimented on me like I was a class science project." Granted it wasn't in this time but that didn't stop Danny from feeling the level of hate that he did towards the organization. He saw Bucky relax just ever so slightly. He understood.

"Why should we believe you?" Dugan asked. The other Commandos yelled out their agreements.

"Because," Danny said, unzipping his HAZMAT suit and ripping it open, "Do you honestly think I would be on the same side as the people who did this?"

It was a low blow, Danny knew, but if he showed his dissection scar then maybe the would help him.

Cap and Bucky went pale, and the others couldn't bare to look for morethan a couple if seconds. Dugan started to look a little green, and Danny zipped his suit back up.

"Can you guys help me?" Danny asked. They had recovered enough to give him a powerful yes, the would help him, but still made extra eye contact.

Steve honestly didn't know what to think of this kid. First, the was a fucking child. Second, what the hell was he wearing? And what did that insignia on his chest mean?

He was… Unnatural. He was maybe sixteen or seventeen at the most but he had white hair that was brighter than the old man's who lived in the apartment above him back in Brooklyn. And his eyes…Those were what set Steve off the most. He had seen bright green eyes, but his were freaking glowing. Literally. In fact, no that Steve looked closer, he saw that all of him had a faint, white flow around him. But there was something about him that made Steve want to trust him. He didn't know what it was, but he knew he had to follow his gut. It hadn't led him wrong so far.

"Whats your name, kid?" He asked, placing his shield on his back. The kid gave him a relieved, somewhat cocky smile as he flipped his hair out of his eyes.

"Name's Phantom."

—-

It was two days to get to their extraction, so the had to camp. The first night went smoothly, more smooth than the all thought it would. Like always, they took turns sleeping. Dugan took the first shift, Bucky the second, and Steve the third.

Danny had stayed awake for all three.

He had cracked a couple of jokes to Dugan, but when he got no response the say in silence until he woke Bucky up and went to bed himself. Despite knowing Bucky, he didn't know this one. He had no idea how to talk to him, so they didn't.

Steve, Danny had quickly realized, hadn't really changed all that much. It was easier to talk to him. Back at the Tower he had always thought of him like a mentor, but now he was just a good friend. A sight for sore eyes.

"So…Is Phantom like, a code-name or something?" Steve asked. Danny nodded.

"Yeah," he replied with a small smile. That surprised Steve. He didn't really see many smiles from anybody. Not a genuine one, anyway.

"Can I ask you something?" Steve asked. It was out of nowhere, but Danny was winking to answer them.

"Yeah, to ahead."

"Why are you glowing? And how did a kid like you end up in the middle of enemy territory?" Danny saw nothing but concern in Steve's big blue eyes, and he allowed himself to sigh.

"I'm… Ugh, my name is Phantom for a reason. I… I'm half ghost. My parents were scientists and there was an accident and it changed my DNA. And I ended up here through a natural portal."

"Half ghost? Natural portal?"

"Yeah. Human and ghost. I'd show you my human half but I don't wanna wake the others. And natural portals are linked to this place called the Ghost Zone, which is where all ghosts stay. They can take you to any time, place, or dimension. You're probably not going to believe me but in from the 21st Century…"

There was something else he wasn't telling Steve. And he was right-Steve didn't really believe it. But if he was it would make sense. Why he had on funny clothes, the glowing, his he appeared out of nowhere. But he needed to know the rest

"There's something else, isn't there?" He asked. Danny nodded.

"Yeah. But I cant tell you. I don't wanna mess with time. Bad things happen when you mess with time. And Clockwork would have my head on a stick if he found out I screwed it up. He's another ghost-Master of Time and all that."

"You're really open about all of this," Steve noted. "Why?"

"I guess," Danny said, "cause you're easy to talk to. Like an old friend."

They spent the rest of the night in silence.

-—–

The second night was kind if the same, except when he and Steve talked, all he did was tell him his real name. It was a small thing, Steve wanted to believe, but the also wanted to believe that it was about as big of a thing as Danny floating about an inch of of the ground instead of actually walking. He knew Bucky noticed his feet weren't actually touching the ground, but he didn't know if the others saw. They had gotten him some clothes so he could blend in a little better. Over his skin tight suit he wore some pants, boots, and a dirty, green long sleeved shirt. They put a helmet on him so he wouldn't be a glowing beacon of trouble, and got him some goggles for when the met Stark.

It was strange, though, how he could be so aware and awake. The kid hadn't slept in two days, maybe more, and he was walking around like he'd slept for a week. Steve also noticed that he didn't really seem winded. In fact, the only time he really saw Danny physically breathe was when he sighed. Other than that, it was kind of rare to see his chest move up in down like his did. He also didn't eat as much as the others, for whatever reason. Maybe ghosts didn't need to actually eat? He had no idea. But he did take some coffee if it was offered it to him. He never got cold, either. In fact, he complained that it was to warm a couple of times.

Bucky sped up so he could talk to Steve, keeping an ear on Phantom's conversation with Gabe. He was trying to learn a few basic French terms for Denier. He seemed to be a fast learner.

"So, did you talk to the kid?" Bucky whispered. Steve nodded and snuck a glance at Danny, who was laughing at something Gabe said. It was weird. He was like a ray of sunshine, all happiness and rainbows right in the middle of a war.

"Said he was half-ghost and from the 21st century," Steve replied, eyeing the trees. "I'm not saying it's true, but it would explain everything."

"Seriously?" Bucky asked, giving Steve a skeptical look.

"Well, I went from ninety pounds soaking wet to 240 pounds and in enemy territory within a few minutes. I like to think that at this point I have an open mind. Besides, he's not even touching the ground. You saw, didn't you?"

"Yeah. I don't like it, though. He shouldn't be here. And I've read enough books to know that if you mess with time bad things happen."

"Goodness, you're so paranoid. And he said the same thing, about time and all of that. If we take him to Stark, though, he should be able to get home."

"Good. I can't stand any more of his stupid jokes."

\--------

"Woah, retro," Danny said as they walked into Howard's lab, Peggy leading them. Steve had briefed her on the way down while Bucky and Danny talked about the future. Apparently, in the 21st Century they did  _ not  _ have flying cars. But they had flying people, so it was kind of the same thing, according to Danny. And on top of that, they had a black president, same-sex marriage was legal, and and his best friend was a guy who could stick to walls and shoot webs like a spider. It was all very intriguing.

"Ah!" Howard shouted as they walked over to him. "Who do we have here?" He asked, looking Danny up and down. "You're fashion sense is absolutely horrible, kid, let me tell you. Who dressed you, Cap?"

"Yeah. actually," Danny replied nervously.

"What a shame. Any-who, I assume you all are here for upgrades?" Howard looked at them expectantly, his eyebrow raising up the same way Tony's did. He was fidgety and tinkering with his hands when he didn't have a tool in them. The apple really didn't fall far.

"Um, actually, I need to get home. But I need your lab to do it."

Howard stopped dead in his tracks, blinking at Danny as if he told him that he needed Howard's lung.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you. You, an obviously inexperienced child, needs to use my tools to get home? And how do you plan on doing that?"

"I'm going to make blue prints and go from there. I've built it before, I just need a pen and some wall space."

He got up in Howard's space, but it wasn't as intimidating as he had hoped because of his awful getup.

"Danny, show him," Steve said.

"Ugh, finally," Danny said. He stepped back from Howard, the tension already gone, and started taking off the helmet and goggles, showing white hair and green eyes. He took off the long sleeved shirt and pants and boots as well, showing Peggy and Howard the uniform he wore underneath.

"What are you, kid?" Howard asked. Danny could practically see the gears turning in his head as he lifted off f the ground, sitting cross legged in mid air.

"I'm a ghost. Well, half-ghost, but a ghost nonetheless. And I need to use your lab so I can get home to my time. Please?"

\----

It took only a few weeks to build the portal from scratch, even with the modifications Danny had made to it. But Steve and Bucky were still sad to see the little genius go.

"Okay," Danny said as he took the blueprints and incinerated them in his hands. "This works on ectoplasm-the stuff ghosts are made of-and it'll only work once. But Steve, Bucky, you have to promise me you'll destroy the portal after I leave. I can't be ruining the time stream or anything, it's highly important to the future. Understand?" Cap and Bucky nodded.

"Where'd you get the ectooplasm?" Bucky asked as Danny turned the portal on. It hummed with glowing energy.

Wordlessly, Danny held up his bandaged arm. "Nothing a little of myself can't fix." He walked over, and stood before them as the portal finished warming up. "I can't thank you guys enough," he told them, holding out his hand. Steve and Bucky both shook it, and he gave them a two-fingered saute before flying through, and into the Ghost Zone. Once the doors were closed, it started sparking and shutting down, deactivating thanks to Danny. Steve walked up and destroyed the control panel, and Bucky started to tear the wires out.

After all, they had to keep their promise.

It only took a quick stop at Clockwork's Tower and he was back at the Avenger's Tower, safe and sound like nothing had ever happened.

"Oh, Daniel, back from patrol already?" Vision asked as he flew up to him. Danny nodded, and took the hallway that led to his room. He had had a long couple of weeks.

"Danny."

He turned around, only to see Steve, still in his shorts from his morning run.

"Oh, hey Steve. What's up?" All he had to do was act natural. It couldn't have been that hard, right?

"Nothing," Steve said with a smile, patting Danny's shoulder. "I just wanted to say you're welcome."

Danny stared, stunned, as Steve casually headed to his room. When his brain finally rebooted, he smiled.

It was nice to finally know the reason Steve had been so keen on having him join the Avengers.


	43. Keep Your Money

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is one of the prompts from those prompt blogs, not by a request like all the others.
> 
> Tumblr prompt: You are an assassin. A child has just come up to you, handed you all their pocket money and asked you to kill their abusive relative. (Plot twist: You give her back her money and kill that asshole for free

Danny had long since made peace with the fact that he's a horrible person. Not because he was a liar or a backstabber. But because the killed people for for his afterlife (Sometimes actually stabbing someone's back). He himself had been murdered by his father, for being a freak would not stand in his household. Later Danny went back and haunted him for a month before killing him. After all, he couldn't have known he was what his parents hated most. Not until it was already to late.

He spent most of his time in the human realm rather than the ghost realm. He was still attached to the place, and he wasn't quite ready to let it go. Especially when there were people to be killed.

He had a code, of course. No children and no animals. Those were it. But anyone else was free game. Like Mafia bosses, bad cops, and more recently, bad parents.

He was sulking in a barn, looking for a safe place to rest, when a small blonde child ran in, crying. He didn't seem to notice Danny.

He was wearing a purple shirt and tattered pajama bottoms, and the left side of the boys face was swollen. Danny's eyes flashed red as he squeezed his fists in rage.

Once the boy wiped away the tears and calmed down a bit, he looked around, taking in the silence of the barn.

And that's when be spotted Danny.

"Who-who are you?!" He asked. Danny held up his hand and pulled down the hood of his cloak, revealing his snowy hair and kind, green eyes.

"I'm a ghost assassin," he replied calmly. It probably wasn't the best way to go, but the had no time to sugar coat things. Not when he had to find a new hideout.

"An assin? Can you repeat it?" The boy asked, confused. Danny did, a bit slower this time, and noticed how the boy stared intently at his mouth.

"Are you deaf?" Danny asked. The boy nodded and placed a hand over one of his ears.

"Yeah, cause of my dad. Hey, assassins kill people, right?" The boy asked. Danny signed a yes to him, cocking his head to the side at who the boy wanted dead. After all, he was a child. Children shouldn't want anyone dead.

W-H-Y, Danny spelled out. He knew some sign language , but not all. The boy wordlessly came up to him and handed him $2.37 and a button with some lint trapped in it.

"Can you take care of my dad?"

Danny looked at the boy, with his messy blonde hair and bright, hopeful eyes as they stared at him like he was sent from the angels. Danny squeezed the money in his hand in anger before gently giving it back to the child. The swollen eye, deafness, and the weird way the kids nose was shaped all stood out to Danny. It took him a fraction of a second to put two and two together.

"No need to pay me for this one," he said.

He flew out of the barn and into the parent's bedroom before looking down at the father. His side was gross and messy. There were empty beer bottles and an unloaded gun near his night stand that had a broken lamp on it.

It was only a few seconds. Painless, him dying in his sleep, and Danny wished he could have made the man suffer, but he had to get back to the boy in the barn as his father's corpse grew colder. Partly from the ice Danny put in his heart, partly from the chill coming in from the cracked window.

He slowly flew back into the barn, watching the kid perk up as the came to a stop in front of him.

"Is it done?" He asked. Danny nodded.

"Whats your name?" He asked. The boy grinned from ear to ear, showing a missing tooth.

"Clint Barton. Man, wait till my brother hears about this!"

"No. Dont tell anyone, they wont believe you," Danny said. "However, if you ever in any need again, just give me a call."

Clint grunted as he was kicked to the side. His vision was staring to fade, and the pain in his side was excrutiating. There was definitely broken ribs, and maybe even a popped lung. He was no doctor, but he knew that that was bad.

He was kicked in the face again, and it took all of his strength not to black out. He spit some blood out of his mouth, trying to get up. But with his chest hurting and only one half-decent arm, it was a struggle.

He was going to die.

"Come on, ghost dude. I need you," the muttered under his breath. It was the only time he had ever needed his assistance. Ever since that night in the barn, he had been more open and independent. Hell , he even joined the fucking circus. But now the was having the shot beaten out of him by the Russian Mafia on stereroids, and there was nothing he could do about it.

He saw a flash of light, and saw blood that was maybe not his splatter onto the floor, before completely blacking out.

When Clint woke up again, he was at the Tower. The room was empty except for his dog and the ghost kid, who hadn't changed a bit over the years. He was still as tall and muscular as Steve, with those same kind eyes.

"You actually showed up," he wheezed. The figure looked at him, smiling bitterly.

"Yeah, well, how could I say no to my only freebee. We got history," the replied. "Nice hearing aids, by the way. They suit you."

"Thanks. Hey, what's your name, anyway?"

"Danny. But most of you humans just call me Phantom. I kinda like it."

Clint wanted to chuckle, but his chest hurt to much, so instead he let out some sort of half-wheeze, half-snuffle.

"It was nice seeing you again, Clint. If you ever need anything again, you know I'm there."

And the Danny disappeared, leaving Clint to deal with his half blind dog pouncing onto his broken arm out from excitement.

And even though he had left , Clint still let a thank you escape from his lips before patting Lucky's head and going back to sleep.


	44. Damian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was an OC request by the anon who requested all of the Venom drabbles

Danny gave Nick Fury a wary look as someone he's never seen on the Helicarrier before approached them. He was carrying a small vial of Danny didn't even want to know what, talking and laughing shyly with Spider-Man.

He wasn't particularly bad looking. He was tall, tan, and toned, (new gym name?) with bright green eyes that were only a couple of shades darker than his own, and soft-looking brown hair that he would make a pillow out of if given the chance. Danny had had a long day, and he was probably tired enough to try it if someone bet him. Natasha had said once that Tired Danny was like an off-brand Drunk Danny, and that was only because the ghost boy wasn't able to even get drunk.

"Hi," Danny said when they finally got to him and Fury, "What's your name?"

The boy looked at his hand carefully before taking it and shaking it with a small, timid smile.

"My name is Damian. I helped your friend catch the goo thing," he said, holding out the vial. Danny scowled at it, remembering the few times Venom had been attached to him. The small sliver was in an (almost) indestructible vial that Danny and Spider-Man had made themselves. The even had Hulk test it (it eventually broke but they forgot that the more angry Big Green gets, the stronger he gets. After it took Hulk three minutes of trying they deemed it workable). Anything can be tested really well strength -wise if you used the Hulk.

"I'm Phantom. I was just up here checking out the containment unit that we were going to put Venom in. Can I see the vial?" Damian nodded, his brown hair flopping with his head, and placed Venom in Danny's open palm.

That's when, in hindsight, Danny would later realize, that he probably should have just had Damian put the damned thing into the unit himself. Because while the vial was unbreakable by Venom standards, they didn't account for the lid. As soon as it was in Danny's hand, the cork blew out and wrapped itself around Danny, encasing him in seconds. Spider-Man, through instincts, put his arm in front of Damian and pushed him back a couple of steps behind him, getting into a fighting stance. Danny was hard to fight on a normal day. He was impossible to fight when he had Venom wrapped around him.

Right as Venom-Danny swung with an ecto-charged tentacle, Damien pushed Spidey's head down, leaning backward as he did so. The tentacle missed them by millimeters.

It was more sudden than a change of seasons. Damian's whole demeanor changed, going from kind of shy to hyper-focused in a matter of seconds. He gripped the back of Spider-Man's clothes and threw himself and Spidey to the side, almost a while second before Venom-Danny swiped at them again, right where they had been standing. Fury, on the other side of the monster, was shooting. Spider-Man webbed up the gun, making it useless. It was only making Venom-Danny mad, and it could possibly hurt the person inside-his best friend.

Damian got up again, rolling towards Fury and taking one of his small blasters and rolled away again as Venom-Danny batted at him again. Again and again, Damian was always one step ahead. Spidey even saw a small, triumphant smile on his face as he ducked and jumped all over the place before shooting at Venom-Danny. He missed, and it hit the wall, exposing all of the wiring. Fury yelled at him to give the gun to someone who actually knew how to use it, and Damian almost felt offended. Obviously he knew how to use it. There had been a 92% chance of Venom-Danny dodging it, which is what he had been counting on.

"I know what I'm doing," Damian said as he stepped to the side and tossed Fury his gun back. There was no way he could fight this monster hand to hand, but Spidey (who was being an excellent distraction at the moment) had told him of a way to defeat Venom and detach him from it host.

He ripped some of the cords out, instantly calculating which ones he was able to grab and which ones had the most power behind them. The cords sparked in his hands as he took several in each hand and stabbed them into Venom-Danny's side, making a huge hole in the goo. He saw Danny's white glove. If he grabbed onto it and tried pulling him out, there was a 43% chance of success. But he had to try anyway.

He reached out and gripped the glove, feeling a reassuring squeeze back, and pulled with one hand while trying to steady the cords with the other. He had to keep the opening, otherwise he would be caught in Venom as well. He was quickly calculating the chances of success, and they were quickly deteriorating. He grit his teeth and dropped the cords, letting them wiggle around in the air. Damian grabbed Danny's wrist with his other hand and pulled, sticking his foot onto Venom for leverage. Slowly but surely the white hair and pale skin showed itself. But without the electricity there was nothing stopping Venom from absorbing them both. The chances of success had depleted to almost zero as soon as he let go of the wires, and yet he was still not dead. How so?

Danny's head was all the way out now, all the needed was his legs and one of his hands. But he was awake and angry, and ready to fight. He twisted his hand out of Damian's grip and shot Venom with ice and ectoplasm, making the creature screech with pain. Danny managed to pull himself out of Venom, panting with the effort, and smiled at Damian.

"Thanks for the save," he said.

"The probability of getting him into the holding cell is about 38%, but with all of us I think we might actually be able to pull it off," Damian replied. Danny nodded and blasted Venom again. He stumbled back, almost running into Spidey.

Spider-Man webbed Venom's shoulder and used that as a tether to swing himself all the way around the alien several times-especially around the knees, before swinging to the side and letting Danny and Damian to charge and punch him back. Venom fell to the ground, and Fury quickly put up the barrier.

Venom wasn't going to get out anytime soon.

"Thank you," Danny said, clapping a hand on Damian's shoulder. "If it wasn't for you we wouldn't have won today."

"I'm happy to help," Damian replied, rubbing the back of his had sheepishly. "I mean, after all, what were the chances?"


	45. Don't Leave Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was a special requested prompt who wanted me to pair Valerie with anyone from the Marvel Universe I wanted (Wanda Maximoff) so here's this
> 
> Prompt: "You're just gonna leave me alone here like this? No return date? Nothing?"/ "Trust me when I say this: you'll never be alone. I'll be back, someday.")

"What do you mean you have to go?" Wanda asked, gripping Valerie's hands fearfully. Her Valerie. Her own superhero. She was strong, independent, and man, Wanda could get lost in her eyes forever. She would gladly spend an eternity just starring at them.

"I'm sorry, babe, but I have to," Valerie said. Wanda wouldn't understand the importance of her mission. And she didn't want her girlfriend getting hurt in the Ghost Zone because of Valerie. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if anything happened to her.

"You're just gonna leave me alone like this? No return date? Nothing?" Wanda was crying now, not wanting to let go of Valerie's hands, and it broke her heart. She was trying to hold back her own tears as she pulled Wanda into a tight hug.

"Trust me when I say this," she said, "You will never be alone. I'll be back someday. Time in the Zone is really weird."

She let go and moved the hair from Wanda's face before kissing her goodbye, possibly for the last time, and pulled her mask over her head. She hopped on her board and pressed a button on her wrist, opening a portal to the Ghost Zone. She couldn't stop herself from looking back at Wanda as she floated through.

They were still looking at one another when it closed.

Valerie dove headfirst into battle, unable to stop thinking about the fact that she might never see Wanda again.

—–

Wanda stared at the space where Valerie, her sweet, sweet Valerie, had disappeared. She could help. She could have stopped Valerie easily, but something in the back of her head had forced her not to. She couldn't figure out why. Maybe it was just because Valerie had asked her not to? Or because she knew this was important to Valerie? She had felt her girlfriend's emotions before she went into the Ghost Zone, alone and heartbroken.

What if they never saw each other again?

Wanda dropped to her knees, hugging herself as tears streamed down her face. She didn't know how long she had stayed like that. She had only ever felt pain like this three times. The first, when her parents were killed, and er and Pietro were stuck under the bed for days, waiting for a bomb to kill them. The second was when her beloved brother had died at the hands of the robot they had helped. And now this. The feeling was so overwhelming. The tightness in her chest was suffocating, and she couldn't see through he blurriness of her tears.

She let that feeling fuel her as she stood up again, wiping away her tears. She felt determined. Whatever Valerie wanted to keep her safe from, Wanda knew she could not do it alone. She knew that they worked best when they were together, they always have. It was one of the things that had made them so attracted to each other.

Wanda stormed her way down to Stark's lab where she knew a portal to the Ghost Zone was. And it wasn't long before she was inside, following the sound of fighting, ignoring the fact that several ghosts were running away from that direction.

They were cowards for not helping her Valerie.

—-

Valerie ducked and dodged Nocturne, glaring at him as he grew larger. He was holding a sleeping Dani by the throat, and Danny had been blasted by the evil ghost and was now being beat up on by the minions, who were merciless. The only one who could really fight the monster and probably do some damage was Valerie. She charged her largest gun and fired, but he merely blocked it with a ghost shield.

She flew straight towards him, pressing her board's self destruct button. She back-flipped off of it as soon as she was close enough, letting her board blow up right in Nocturne's face. He let go of Dani, waving away the debris from his face. Valerie flew over, sending a silent thank you to Stark for giving her a jetpack, and caught Dani. But as soon as she did, she was hit to the side.

She hit the ground- _ hard- _ and wondered just for a moment if she actually would make it back to Wanda. No! She had to stop thinking about that, because  _ of course she would make it back.  _ She had promised. Valerie never broke those.

But her visor was cracked and she was pretty sure some of her ribs were broken from the fall. Her vision was staring to get blurry, but Danny was still getting beaten to a pulp, and Valerie was the only one that could still throw a punch. Barely, but if it was enough to slow Nocturne down she would take it.

She stood up, leaving Dani on the ground and praying to god she'd be safe from any hits Nocturne threw.

Her jetpack was busted, meaning she had to do this on foot. She looked around wildly, trying to find something that would work against the ghost. She started running, her chest burning with pain, away from Dani and to a purple tree. If she could get on Nocturne then she's sure she could think of a better plan once she was there.

Then, out of nowhere, more minions showed up. Valerie skidded to a stop before bringing out two ghost pistols. However, before she could fire them, some sort of red energy gripped them and threw them towards the minions that were on Danny, knocking enough of them away for him to get some leverage back.

Valerie took another step forward, but fell to her knee, clutching her torso. She must be more injured than she originally thought.

"Valerie!"

Her head snapped up as her girlfriend ran towards her.

"Are you okay?" She asked. Worry was in her accent, and Valerie, despite not being happy that Wanda was here, was glad Wanda was here.

"I'm fine. What are you doing here?" She grit out, wincing at the pain. Wanda looked at her closely, then at Nocturne. Her hands lit up with red energy as she watched Danny try to drag Dani away to some place safer, deflecting any blast that came his way.

"I am helping."

Wanda felt her anger wash over her, using it to fuel her powers. She was always told not to mess with people's minds, but for this creature she would make an exception.

Nocturne laughed at her as she walked towards him. Mocked her for thinking she could take him down all by herself when he had bested her other friends. But Wanda didn't think she could do that.

She knew she could.

Her red energy wrapped itself around his mind, peeling back the layers of walls he had put up. She could feel his fear, his arrogance, and his pain. She squeezed her hand and felt a sudden surge of misery from Nocturne. He clutched his head, throwing a couple of ectoblasts at her, but none of them even came close to hitting her.

The more she used her powers to torment his mind the more he shrunk, until he was about as tall as Clint. She walked up to him and released her powers. He dropped to what she assumed was his knees, feeling no mercy for the creature. She wasn't going to kill him, but if he went crazy after this she wasn't going to feel sorry for him.

She gripped his horns and slammed his head into her knee, knocking him out cold.

"Leave him there."

She turned to see Danny, his face swollen and almost unrecognizable. His whole body was beaten and bruised, and there was an ugly gash on his thigh, but he still stood strong as he helped Dani get to her feet.

"The Observants will get him. Right now we should just get home." Wanda nodded and moved to Valerie. She helped her stand and walk as Danny held out his hand and made a portal to the Tower.

—

When Valerie woke up, she wasn't surprised to see that she was in the med bay hooked up to several machines. To her left was Danny, sleeping blissfully as his heart monitor beeped much slower than hers.

At the side of her bed was Wanda, who had fallen asleep while touching Valerie's hand. She smiled to herself and combed through some of Wanda's hair.

Wanda at up, bleary eyed, and yawned before smiling at Valerie.

"I told you I would make it back," Valerie said. "I just didn't say how."

Wanda huffed and rolled her eyes before climbing onto the bed and wrapping her arms around Valerie, laying her head on her shoulder.

"You are an idiot," she said. Valerie smiled and placed a kiss on Wanda's head.

"Yeah. But I'm your idiot."


	46. Probability

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Can you write a thing with Damien, Danny and Peter hanging out?

 

"So how did you do all of that?" Spider-Man asked. He had his mask pulled up so he could eat his pizza. Danny still couldn't stop laughing at the face the cashier made as Phantom and Spider-Man went in and ordered two pizzas, and then sat and waited until they were ready. He could barely speak, he was so flustered.

Now they were almost at the top of the Empire State Building, sitting on a ledge and eating pizza with their new friend Damian, who just kind of shrugged and ate a slice of pizza, ignoring the fact that he had a 97% chance that he could fall, because with two official heroes right next to him, the chances of him actually dying were very slim.

"I'm a mutant," he answered. He spoke quietly, but thanks to Danny and Spidey's advanced hearing they had no trouble, even over the wind.

"Oh, like the X-Men?" Danny asked.

"I guess," Damian shrugged. He was fine. He could loosen up a bit, right? "I mean, I have the x-gene, yes, but I am in no way a pat of the X-Men. I don't exactly share the same views as them." He'd been talking to much. Now they were going to think he was boring or something.

"Oh? How so?" Spider-Man asked. Damian held back his quizzical look, because of course they would think he's interesting. After all, how often do they sit at the top of a building eating pizza with an almost complete stranger? Never!

"See," he started, "Professor Xavier thinks we should hide and let things blow over. Let the world adjust to it at their own pace. But I think that we would be accepted at a faster pace by the world if we fought evil like normal superheroes. Like you guys, not hiding your powers or even sometimes your identities. Then maybe mutants can have the same rights as you guys. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, totally,: Danny nodded, floating on his back in front of them while stealing another slice of pizza. It was like he was in a pool, his arms out and his body flat, just sitting there in mid air. It was…Kind of fun to watch. It gave him an extra thing to focus on. "So what's your power, exactly?" He asked. "I mean, the way you beat Venom was nothing like I've ever seen." Danny spoke with pride about Damian, and it allowed for the unmasked boy to let out a sigh, trying to shake his nerves away. It wasn't being up high that made him nervous, it was new people.

"Probability," he answered simply. "I run calculations in my head in fractions of a second, coming up with the best possible solutions. I can't stop. It just…Happens. The chances of you choking on his pizza sitting like that is higher than the chances of say, me or Spider-Man choking on it. The chances of me falling off of the building is a 97% chance, however me almost dying is nearly 0%."

"What was the probability of you getting me out of Venom and saving the day?" Danny asked, sitting up so he wouldn't choke on his pizza.

"Very low. But its just the most likely probability of failure. That doesn't mean you'll actually fail. I weighed my chances, and just…Did it." He saw Danny grin from ear to ear and lifted his hand into a fist, except that his thumb was pressed to the side of his index finger. It didn't appear to be a problem though, because Spider-Man nodded, apparently agreeing with Danny about some unspoken thing.

"Hey, Damian?" Danny asked, finishing off his pizza.

"Yes?"

"How would you like to meet the Avengers?"


	47. Damien and Danny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Can you do a oneshot with Damien and Dani meeting somehow and have them hang out?

Damian had gone above and beyond with everyone's expectations. And though his mutation was mental, he used it to strike blows against his enemies just as hard as a physical blow would. And thanks to training with Danny and Spider-Man, he had become better at fighting and self defense.

But with all of the training he's had, he didn't now if his non-super strength butt could handle the blue Dracula reject floating around and messing things up.

He rolled to the side, out of the way of one of his blasts, covering his head so the crumbs of debris wouldn't hurt him. His glowing pink hands reminded him of Danny's green ones, and the faint glow around the vampire was unmistakable. Was this guy a ghost?

Before he could calculate what he needed to do next, a small, black and white blur zoomed in out of nowhere and hit the dude square in the chest, sending him flying.

The figure was a young girl, and a hell of a lot shorter than him. She had white hair and glowing green eyes, and was wearing a black and white jumpsuit with the same logo as Danny's. Was this his sister or something? The resemblance was uncanny, and she had the same logo as him. He watched as she pulled out some sort of thermos (?) and sucked the vampire into it.

"Who are you?" He asked as she hooked it back onto her belt.

"Name's Dani. With an 'i', mind you. Who are you?" She was short but obviously full of power, and he calculated that this meeting could go bad or good. It was a rare 50/50 chance. It all depended on how he spoke to her.

No pressure, right?

"Uh-er-D-Damien," He stuttered. He didn't want to admit it, but he was still a little blown away by her performance. "You look like-like-"

"-Danny Phantom?" She asked, raising a playful eyebrow. She had a shit eating grin on her face as she lifted off the ground. He nodded numbly. "That's because he's my cousin!" Damian didn't really pay mind to family resemblances that often but he was dead sure that cousins didn't look like they could be twins. "I'm in town to see him, actually."

"I can show you where he is," Damian offered. The words left his mouth before he even knew what he said. He felt like he was having an out of body experience. "I hang with him sometimes," Damian offered at her skeptical look. "Cause I'm…I'm a super hero too."

Instead of second guessing him about the hero thing like most people did, she just shrugged and floated down to his eye level.

"Cool," she said, floating on her back with her arms under her head. Just like Danny. He ignored that though as they started walking. Damian was pretty sure he was with the Avengers right about now, and their tower was only six blocks away. Happy would let him up.

"So, how long have you known Danny?" Dani asked him. God, that was going to get confusing really quickly.

"Only a few months," Damian answered. "I helped him out with this goo thing. It was no big deal."

"And you said you were a super hero too, right?" She sounded legitimately excited to hear about his life. "Does that mean you have powers too, or are you more like Captain America? No powers but can still kick major butt."

"My power is probability. I do calculations in my head based on the situation around me and come up with a probability. I use that to dictate the battlefield."

"Dude, that sounds so rad!" She did a loop in the air before returning to his eye level, this time on her stomach with her chin propped up on her hands. "Wish I could do that. All I have are these stupid ghost powers."

"Speaking of ghosts, who  _ was  _ that back there? I've ever seen anyone like him. He kinda looked like a modern day vampire."

"Vlad Plasmius," she answered. Her whole mood changed, and she became silent and upset. It was a complete 180 from the happy girl he had come to like. "He's been a pain in me and Danny's butts ever since we became halfas. He's always wanted Danny to join him, be his apprentice or something. But Danny is obviously better than that." The way she worded the last sentence made it sound like a bad breakup happened between Danny and Vlad. Thankfully, Damian knew when to stop asking questions.

"Do you play Doomed?" She asked.

—-

Danny was laughing when they walked into the living room. Well, Damian walked. As soon as the elevator doors opened Dani had tackled Danny and was hugging him, talking a mile a second before handing him the thermos and zooming around the room to greet her other friends.

"Oh, hey Damian. What's up?" Danny asked, ducking to avoid Dani. Damian shrugged.

"Nothing much. Hey, do you wanna play Doomed?"


	48. You ARE the Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Dani (with an 'i') gets found by S.H.I.E.L.D. and they find out that she the genetic daughter of Loki. Dani on the other hand wonders how to break it to Danny (the original) that his dad is not Jack. And on the side, Loki is in denial that Dani is his daughter since he was never with anyone at the time it would have taken to conceive her (though maybe a couple years before that he did).

Dani grit her teeth as she was pushed along, her hands cuffed behind her back. She could have easily escaped if it weren't for the fact that none of her powers were working. Despite being really short, she noticed that it was pretty effortless for them to push her around.

"Who are you?" She asked, looking at the man with an eye patch. He didn't turn around. Instead he was looking at several different screens that had her running around and kicking bad-guy butt with her brother Danny.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" The man said. What more did this guy want from her? They had already taken blood samples, mouth swabs, and a lock of her hair. Were they wanting to take her freedom away too?

Before she could ask what he waned from her, a woman in a lab coat ran towards the man with papers in her hands. She whispered something to him, and he visibly stiffened before turning around to look at Dani and her white haired glory. He narrowed his eye, thinking for a moment.

"If that's true than put her in the holding cell we made for him. If she's anything like her father we need to be prepared for her tricks. Loki won't one-up us again. And see if we can contact Thor. He needs to be in on this as well."

The guards holding her turned her around and shoved her forward. Did they honestly think her dad was Loki? No! Her dad was Mr. Masters! Granted she had had a falling out with him, but still! She wasn't the kid of some whiny demigod with daddy issues! And Danny was her brother, who was the son of Jack Fenton! She had been adopted, but there was no way he was, right?

She was led to a large, circular cell, and was told that if she tried anything they would send her plummeting to her death. They unlocked the cuffs before shoving her in, and then quickly left, looking back at her with looks of utter hatred for  _ maybe  _ being the child of an evil demigod. She scoffed and blew a lock of snowy hair out of her face before turning intangible and sinking through the floor.

She had to find Danny.

—-

She was in Amity by lunch the ext day, trying to ignore the summer heat as she flew over the town invisibly. She looked in his room, thankful that he was there with his two friends. Maybe they could help as well.

"Danny!" She called, panting as she switched back to her human form, letting her now raven hair flop across her face. She blew it out of the way and stared at her brother. How was she supposed to tell him that he was adopted to? Or could be? ow as she supposed to tell him that they were the spawn of demigods?

"Danny, we need to talk," she said.

"What? What is it?" Danny asked, instantly alert.

"I was caught by SHIELD and they took some DNA samples and one of them said that we were related to that Loki guy," she spit out. If Danny hadn't been so well versed in translating Dani, than he would have needed to ask her to repeat herself more slowly. But he caught every word.

"That's impossible," he said. He looked a little worried now. "There's no way. I mean, he doesn't have ghost powers. Right? And besides, I got my powers from the portal, and so did you."

"Yeah. But what about our ice powers? Isn't that a Loki thing too?"

"Danny, she's not kidding," Tucker said, looking at his computer screen. He turned it around for his friends to see. "Look. That's Dani's DNA, and that's Loki's. Dani is the daughter of Loki, meaning you're his son."

"Meaning that my dad…Isn't my dad…" Danny's face fell, and Dani wanted to take back what she said. She didn't want to hurt the only family that cared about her. But she knew he had to know.

She needed to find Loki.

—–

Compared to her trip from California to India, her flight from Amity to New York was only a few minutes. And she already knew where their Tower was, so she didn't have to waste time finding it. However, when she got there, Thor was just getting back. She quickly turned invisible and intangible before following him inside.

"Your eyeless man says that Loki has one or more children, both here on Midgard, and both with what you humans call super powers," his deep voice boomed in the small room. The only other person in the room,  _ the  _ Captain America, looked concerned.

"Does Fury know where she went? Or how she escaped? We need to talk to her," he sounded more concerned than he looked. It was nice knowing that your childhood hero was concerned for your well being.

"Nay, they know not where she went," Thor replied. "I saw the film, though. She had dropped through the floor."

"What do you mean?" Cap asked.

"He means I can walk through walls," Dani said. This was getting old. She needed to talk to Thor, and Thor needed to talk to her. "See?" She let herself go through the floor, stopping when it was at her waist, before gently floating back up and placing herself on solid ground.

"Who are you?" Captain America asked.

"Dani. With an 'i'. And I'm the one Thor here is talking about. If Loki really is my father I want to know!"

"I can take you to him," Thor said, looking bewildered. His supposed niece looked nothing like him or his brother. Her hair matched the color of the Ice Giant's home, and her glowing eyes were much to bright compared to his brother's dark, cunning green ones. But they still had to make sure.

"Thor, are you sure this is a good idea?" Steven asked. He nodded, putting his helmet on once again.

"Aye. Now come, small child, I will take you to your father."

—

Dani had always loved exploring the world and seeing new places. Her favorite was Africa, because of all of the free range animals and the beautiful sunsets. But now that she was looking at Asgard, she was having second thoughts. The rainbow Bridge was enough to sway her opinion.

She floated alongside Thor as they made the long walk to the palace dungeon where her possible biological father would be.

"My people will misunderstand if you are floating around. They will mistake you for a drauger," Thor cautioned.

"So do you think this will help?" Dani asked, stepping down on the ground and changing back to her human form. Thor blinked a couple of times, not knowing what to say. Because now the family resemblance was almost uncanny with her high cheekbones and black hair. Her eyes were ice blue, but that trait could have been carried from the mother. Her skin was pale, and when she smiled she had Loki's dimples. Thor nodded, not saying anything.

When they made it to the dungeon, she was surprised to see such a drastic change of scenery. This place was dark and wet and smelled like mold. It was awful compared to the nice, bright, pristine look of the halls she had bee admiring.

"Loki," Thor's voice boomed. They stopped in front of one of the cells where a man in a normal silk shirt rested against the wall. His hair was kind of a mess, and he didn't look up from his book when Thor said his name. Not until Thor banged on the glass. Loki sighed and looked up with a bored expression, but that changed when his eyes landed on Dani.

"What do you and your friend want, brother?" He asked, placing his book on the ground and standing back up.

"This, according to Midgardian science, is your child, Loki." Thor's voice was laced with caution at his brother's tone, and it was the mos serious Dani had ever heard him talk.

"I don't have kids, you dolt," Loki snipped. His voice was sharp and he became quickly agitated. "Quit wasting my time with children."

"Loki, look at her! She looks like you! And she has the same eyes as-"

"-Don't!" Loki interrupted. His power flared slightly, but he quickly settled it. "Don't you speak her name, Thor," he hissed.

"When was the last time you bed her," Thor challenged.

"Years ago. Years before she perished from the sickness. She never had any kids. Not any of my knowledge anyway. Besides, if this child was mine, she would have frost giant blood in her. But she has none."

"Wait, what's a frost giant?" Dani asked. Loki gave an exasperated sigh before showing her his now blue hand, coating the border between them in a thin layer of frost.

"Creatures of ice and snow, ruling the lands of Jotenheim, and enemies of Asgard," he replied bitterly.

"So they have ice powers?"

"Aye," Thor replied before Loki could. Dani shrugged put her hands together, blinding the brothers with a blue glow that lit up the whole room. When she was done, she removed one of her hands and held out a small figure. It was Captain America, standing as stoic as ever.

"My ice doesn't melt or break, either," she stated proudly, throwing it onto the ground. It bounced and when she picked it up again, there wasn't even a scratch.

"Leave me," Loki said darkly. When they hesitated, he yelled it again. His voice echoed throughout the dungeon, his anger flaring up again. The table flipped over and his bed was smashed against the wall. Then, he said it again, quieter this time. " _ Leave." _

—

Loki sat against the wall, book forgotten. His elbows rested against his knees, his head in his hands. It wasn't possible, was it? He had only been with Eira for a few years. They had made love, but she never had any kids. Or maybe she had them away from him. He vaguely remembers the trips to Midgard she took, and she had made more while they were together. Was this because she could not bear having children with a prince in secret, or because she had somehow found out who he was?

Either way, with the little demonstration the girl with his Eira's eyes made, it was quite possible that she was his child. How many more children did he have that he had no knowledge of?

No. He didn't have kids. He never would have kids.


	49. Blast to the Past part 2: The Future?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know I had to do it to em

Danny desperately just wanted one normal day. But apparently, the Universe or Clockwork, or whoever, he didn't care anymore, decided that that was too much for the young halfa.

This whole week had been complete crap. Sunday, there was a small army of Hydra robots (created by Hydra, naturally) that decided they were going to do a WWII reenactment and try taking over France. Danny had teamed up with the Avengers for that.

Monday there was a new ghost who had some sort of vendetta against Skulker. He protected the animals, land, sea, and air, and ghost, and Skulker was being a dick about it. He had to fly all the way to the outskirts of Wakanda to take them both down (Even though he kind of agreed with the animal lover), and sent them back to their own layers. Then he had been captured by the Wakandan patrol and Tony had to come and vouch for him to be let go, that he was just helping.

Tuesday he saw Tucker and Clint fall from the ceiling in the kitchen while Danny had been half asleep and eating a bowl of cereal. They had landed on the other side of the table, making it break and flip up, knocking Danny's food into his face.

Wednesday was normal, thank goodness. But that was weird because that never happens. It was so unproductive it was unsettling.

But now it was Thursday, and he was with the Avengers again, kicking ass against Hydra (again), but this time it was in DC, where they were trying to take down the Washington Monument. However, during that battle, whether it was during the takedown or right after, Danny wasn't quite sure, but when he high-fived Captain America, he high-fived the  _ wrong one. _

He just wanted one normal fucking day. The worst part was he didn't even notice until they had gotten back to the others and the present-day Cap had been picking himself up from the debris, shaking off the dust and pain. He stretched and kind of chuckled at Clint when he tripped over his own feet and fell into the reflecting pool. But Danny's grin had escaped him.

The past Steve and Bucky walked around, bewildered at the sight of a giant robot more so than at their future selves.

"Danny? Where are we?" Bucky asked, concerned when he took notice of the second Steve. He was dirty and rugged, and his shirt had holes in it, and Danny noticed the way his hands gripped his rifle a little closer to him.

"Uh..." Danny said, at a loss for words.

"Danny, you're bleeding!" Ant-Man rushed forward and started checking the gash on Danny's head, nearly tackling him to the ground. "Hey, Cap, do you have any bandages?"

"Yeah, here you go," Future Steve said, leaning over and handing him some from his belt. He stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes glued onto his past self and past Bucky.

"Steve, is this the Twilight Zone?" Future Bucky hissed into his Steve's ear when he walked up to see what was wrong.

"Steve, Bucky," Danny said, swatting Scott away and turning toward the present day pair, "this is Steve and Bucky. From the forties."

"What year is this?" Past-Bucky asked.

"It's 2017," the other Bucky replied.

"This is going to get really confusing," Scott mumbled.

"Yeah," Danny said with a groan, "no kidding."

Back at the Tower, Steve and Bucky talked with their past selves. To avoid confusion, they called them Steven and James, which was really weird, because now that he thought of it, he had never heard their full names until now. Danny was making a meal fit for an Asgardian. After all, he's got four super soldiers and himself to feed. That's enough for Thor to get seconds.

"So, how did you guys end up here?" Danny asked James and Steven. He put the lid on the pot of noodles, letting it stir itself, and turned to face them. He noticed that they were fresh and clean, free from the months of dirt that had caked over them. Their clothes were gonna be washed and repaired, but until then Steven had borrowed from Steve, and James had borrowed from Danny because Bucky's clothes were to big for him. It was weird seeing the before and after stages of Hydra manipulation sitting side by side and having a detailed conversation about Star Wars. Seeing both Steves, though, the only things that were different were the the hair and the eyes. They had the same shade of baby blues, but damn, it was like they spoke two different languages.

"We don't really know," Steven answered. He sat straight up with his hands in his lap. "Bucky sounded like he was in trouble so I came to help. Then there was this bright light and we were thrown into the reflection pool. Everything is all kind of fuzzy."

"There was this Dracula dude," James chipped in. "I never thought I'd meet an actual vampire."

Danny stiffened and shared a look with Steve.

"What did this...Vampire look like?" Steve asked. Danny was a little to angry to form polite questions at the moment.

"He was blue, had a white cape, looked kind of fancy. I think he was glowing or something?" Bucky offered.

"Vlad," Danny spit. He turned back around and took the lid off the pot, checking the noodles before he put them in a strainer and added some sauce. He gave four heaping bowls of the stuff to the soldiers, and a slightly smaller one for himself, along with some expensive bread Stark imported from Italy.

"You know him?" Steven guessed. Steve gave his past self a look that said  _ drop it  _ but Danny decided to answer anyway.

"He was an old friend of my parents. They worked together in college on ghost stuff," he started. "He's a halfa too. The first, actually. He used his powers to get rich and famous. He always hated my dad for the accident that turned Vlad into a halfa. He ended up in the hospital and my parents fell in love. Vlad had a major crush on her.

Then their college reunion came around. I was fourteen at the time, it was just a few months after I got my powers. one thing led to another, we found out each others secrets and became like, mortal enemies or whatever. A couple years back he screwed me over so now I live here."

Steven and James knew by the tone of the boy's voice that they weren't supposed to ask how this guy screwed him over. But there was still one question itching at the back of their heads.

"Why did Vlad bring them here then, Danny?" Bucky asked. Danny shrugged and slurped his noodles.

"Don't know," he said with a mouth full of food. "Not good though. He should know not to mess with time like this, he learned that lesson along time ago. With you two here they never stop Hydra and win the war," Danny guessed. "So maybe we go to Hydra and figure out what the hell is going on."

"It's too dangerous," Steve countered, setting his food down.

"Look, I know. But if Vlad is in trouble we gotta help him. With his kind of power in Hydra's hands the rest of the world won't stand a chance. We gotta hit em hard and fast."

"We can help," Steven suggested.

"No, you guys have to go to the portal and get back to your own time," Bucky said.

"The portal was fried by Technus last week, remember?" Danny said. "I was going to fix it this week but I haven't had the chance. It'll take me weeks to get to wires and re-circuit the whole if we help Vlad he might let us use his."

"Then it's a deal," Bucky said. "We're coming with."

Getting in to the compound and finding Vlad had been the easy part.

Getting him out was the part they were still trying to work out.

"Daniel? After what I've done I have to say-I'm a bit surprised to see you helping me," Vlad said when Danny had put his arm around him, helping the older halfa walk. Danny remained silent.

The four soldiers had provided lots of cover, and there were a couple of close calls with Steven and James, but they managed okay enough. Especially with the upgraded guns Stark provided specifically for this mission. It was kind of fun seeing Nazis being killed.

But Vlad still kept talking.

"Why  _ are  _ you helping me Daniel? Have you had a change of heart? Maybe changed your mind about my proposal?"

Danny ignored him. Instead he focused his anger on the door in front of them, kicking it down with such force it splintered and flew almost ten feet away. His eyes were a blazing green.

He followed the Steves and Buckys out into the opening, just barely making it a safe distance away before the explosion they had set up went off. Danny let go of Vlad, and he fell to the ground in a heap. Danny pressed his boot down on Vlad's chest, his anger seeping into every word.

"We are going to use your portal. You won't mess with time or Hydra again. And if I ever see you again you won't be just another halfa. Understand?" When Vlad hesitated Danny pressed down harder. He heard the beginning of a crack, but it was just a fracture he was making. Vlad coughed and nodded.

"Good," Danny said. "Let's go, guys."

Once in the Zone, it was only a short flight to Clockwork's, but he had to make the trip four times because he couldn't carry all of them at once. When he was carrying James, his anger began to finally go away. He didn't realize he started to cry, though, until James pointed it out. Danny didn't say anything though. This was going to be saved for a session with Wilson.

When he went back to grab Bucky, the last of the four, his face was dry and monotone.

"If he ever shows his face again I'll help you," he said, squeezing Danny's shoulder. He nodded, thankful for the offer.

"Yeah. Thanks," he said.

"Hello, Danny," Clockwork said as he turned into a baby. "The portal you need is right over there. Would you care to stay for a game of chess?"

"And lose to the guy who knows the future?" Danny chuckled."I think I'll pass. But thanks anyway, Stopwatch."

The goodbyes were weird and heartfelt, and despite being the same people, they weren't. Not really. The future Steve and Bucky were so different from their past selves in so many ways tan just physical, and it was easy to tell. And even though he was going to see them for breakfast in the morning, he was going to miss them. Once they were gone, Steve and Bucky decided to go back tot he Tower, Danny promising to meet up with them later. He turned to Clockwork.

"I changed my mind on chess," Danny said, letting his head hang down. Clockwork smiled and brought him into a side hug.

"I'll make some tea."


	50. Ice Cold Assistance

"Who is that?"

"Is that...Danny?"

The Avengers stood around in confusion, looking up at the ceiling as a baby Danny cooed and made spit bubbles. It didn't seem to bother him that he was on the ceiling instead of the floor, but it had taken them twenty minutes and a Russian lullaby from Natasha to calm the screaming child down when his transformation light scarred him.

"Who did this to him?" Bruce asked as he pushed up his glasses.

"I don't know, but I am not changing his diapers," Tony replied. Danny blinked his big green eyes at them and giggled, not even realizing that the ceiling probably shouldn't be the best place to roll around on.

"Hey Tony," Clint said, finishing off his hot dog, "Maybe you could make like, play area on the ceiling for him. Like hoops and stuff, maybe one of those little hot wheels things too."

"Clint, that's a great idea, but I think we should focus more on getting Danny back to normal," Sam said.

"We can't do that unless we know what did this to him," Steve pointed out. He kind of wanted to see Tony build stuff on the ceiling. He also wanted to turn Danny back, though.

While they were going back and forth, Wanda and Natasha were the only ones to notice when Danny hit is head and started crying. The lights came again, and he sank like a rock, his powers being taken away by the transformation. Wanda caught him with her powers before gently setting him in Natasha's arms. Out of all of them she was probably the best with kids.

"Why don't we go into the Zone and see what happened?" Natasha said, making Danny laugh again by bouncing him on her hip. She gave him a rare smile and booped his nose before turning half her attention back to the group of adults who were kind of at a loss of what to do.

"But who could help him?" Tony asked.

"Well, there's Clockwork, Frostbite, Dora, maybe Pandora, maybe Ghost Writer. Any number of ghosts Danny's made friends with could help him," Natasha replied smoothly.

I'll go with you," Tony said. "I've made a special armor I haven't gotten to try out yet that's built to go into the Zone."

"I'll go too," Clint said, leaning against Sam's shoulder.

"You ain't getting me to go in there even if I had a whole Asgardian army on my side. One time was enough for me," Sam sated, crossing his arms and shaking his head. "Besides, he has as many enemies in there as he does friends. You're probably going to want a small team for this."

"Then I will join you on this quest," Thor said, fingering the strap on his hammer that was attached to his hip. "I will protect the infant Daniel against the Draugers that seek to harm him."

"This is probably big enough," Tony said, running his hands through his hair that was actually clean for once. The others nodded in agreement.

"Let's do this."

They had all seen the Ghost Zone plenty of times, whether they were helping Daniel or just ended up getting stuck in there on accident. Most times they were in there, they weren't really prepared enough for the trip, but they made sure to be extra ready this time.

Natasha was equipped with several small ectorays and one large one strapped to her back, and Clint had a Spector Deflector and ecto-arrows. Iron Man's whole armor, which was white with a glowing green trim, was completely ghost proof, and could shoot ecto energy as well as arc reactor energy. Thor, being a demigod, didn't really need any special protection. He had his hammer. Clint knocked an arrow, but held it loosely just in case.

"God, I don't see why he finds this place so appealing," Iron Man said. Widow rolled her eyes and took a strand of her hair out of Danny's tiny grip.

"Maybe because he's part ghost?" She said. "I'm sure once you get used to it it's not so bad."

"It's like thirty degrees cooler in here," Iron Man pointed out.

"Dude, ghosts are cold," Clint pointed out. "Danny's normal body temperature is like seventy-seven degrees or something. Quit bitching about the obvious."

"I'm not complaining, I was sating a fact. If we're here I might as well do a little bit of research."

"Look, friends," Thor was quick to interrupt them as he pointed with Mjolnier. "'Tis the Far Frozen, land of the snow draugers."

"That's where Frostbit lives. But we can't go there, we'll freeze to death," Clint stated.

"Me and Thor can go. We can take Danny with us," Iron Man said. "My armor protects me, and he's Thor. It won;t hurt Danny because of his ice core."

"We'll be waiting," Natasha said as she handed Danny over to Thor. He nodded, bringing the boy in close before taking to the air and flying down to the icy kingdom with Iron Man.

Iron Man had heard Danny's stories of the Far Frozen, and had more than prepared for the terrain should the occasion have risen prior to this. He was nice and toasty on the inside, and the outside of his armor was automatically heated so nothing would freeze over and get stuck. According to the clock in his helmet, they had been in the Zone for maybe an hour and a half, but time in the Zone was insignificant.

He stopped paying attention to the clock and started paying attention to which mountain was which, just in case they needed to back track.

Out of nowhere, there was a bright flash of light, but this time Danny didn't scare himself. But he did allow himself to float out of Thor's arms. He went airborne too, just in case.

"Danny, come here," He said. He was bad at talking to babies, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying to mimic the tone Pepper used whenever she saw babies. Danny happily floated over, zooming around his head. He seemed to be loving the sub zero temperatures. He laughed and spun around to follow Danny.

"Halt!" Iron man did, but Danny kept going, around and around his head. Thor floated up and caught the kid, bringing his fingers up to his lips to make him quiet.

"Who are you?" A big Yeti thing came out of the white haze. He had a huge weapon, and one of his arms was completely made of ice. Didn't Danny say something about that?

When Danny saw who it was, he zoomed over and gave the beast a giant hug, babbling nonsense as he zipped around the ghost's head.

"Great One?" He asked.

"If you mean Danny then yeah, that's him," Tony said. "You're Frostbite?" The yeti nodded. "Cool. We need your help. We don't know who did this, and we don't know how to fix it. Any ideas?"

"Come with me," Frostbite said, laughing as Danny attached himself to his ice arm. He licked it and his tongue got momentarily stuck. "We have much to talk about."

"It seems to be...Magic. Dark magic," Frostbite said as he examined Danny. They were back in some cave, where there were drawings on the walls of someone who vaguely depicted Danny beating some evil ghost. Thor was very intrigued by them.

"I knew Daniel was powerful, but I never realized how much," he told Frostbite, still examining the wall.

"It was a surprise to all of us, Odinson," he said proudly. "After all, he's but a halfa. And a child. He defeated Pariah Dark when he was new to his powers. In your human years I believe he said he was fourteen. Quite young for a warrior, but he was the only one who could have done it. He has come quite a long way."

"Pariah Dark?" Iron Man questioned. Danny had never told this story. It sounded interesting.

"he old Ghost King," Frostbite said, taking ingredients off of the cave walls. Despite having a conversation about his pupil he was still entirely focused on the task at hand. "The Great One locked him back into his sarcophagus. Because he won the battle, he will become the new king. But only when he becomes full ghost."

"You mean, to rule over the ghost dimension he needs to die again?" Tony asked, bewildered. He had seriously underestimated Danny.

"Precisely. But he already knows where he will go when he does. It could be next week, it could be from old age, but his human half will go away eventually. It happens with all halfas.

It is a shame, however. He speaks highly of you all. Your mortal team gives him a type of fulfillment you probably wouldn't understand."

"What do you mean?" Thor asked. Frostbite pointed to a large stick behind him, and Thor handed it to him. Frostbite started stirring something in a large cauldron, mixing some of the ingredients in it.

"His Obsession. All ghosts have one. Young Daniel's here is protecting those who cannot protect themselves. He fights to protect. That is his goal, whether it be a cat from a tree or your mortal world from an alien invasion. To go against your reason for being could be...Catastrophic. He's been wanting to thank you for giving him the chance to do just that for a while now, but he hasn't figured out what he wants to do yet."

He walked over to Danny and cut off a small lock of hair before putting it in the cauldron. It changed from a purple liquid to a swirling blue and green. He placed it in a small cup and somehow coaxed Danny to drink it.

"It will take time for the potion to work, but the dark magic inside of him has been reversed. Now, is there anything else you need?" Frostbite looked at Danny, smiling to himself as the toddler became tired. He yawned and leaned into the soft fur of Frostbite's real arm, burrowing his face into it.

"Do you have any other stories?" Tony asked. "Of Danny, I mean."

"Quite a few, actually," Frostbite said. "But we should wait until your friends come. I sent some guards to retrieve them."

"-And that is how he successfully pulled a practical joke on Walker," Frostbite laughed. The others four were laughing too. Even Natasha cracked a smile.

Danny had grown in the past couple of hours they had been sitting there, back into a fully grown nineteen year old. He was still asleep though.

"You two seem to be really close," Natasha observed.

"He is my student, and a dear friend. I helped him when he first discovered his ice powers. He comes back occasionally to train or to have tea. He is like family, and fits in well with the rest of the Far Frozen." Frostbite said fondly.

"We shall praise his victories in the halls of Valhalla," Thor promised.

"I always though it was quite funny," Frostbite said after he gave Thor a thankful nod. "Despite not liking the spotlight, his actions force him to be front and center. Daniel ha never needed recognition for the work he does because he knows that if he saves lives it is reward enough. That is a trait I have always admired in the boy."

"Mmm, what boy?"

All heads turned to Danny as he sat up and yawned. He stretched and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before looking around, confused.

"Why are we in the Far Frozen? What happened?" He asked with tired green eyes. Clint slapped him on the back and ruffled his hair.

"Aw, don;t worry about it, kid. Let's just get you home, yeah?" Danny numbly nodded, and gave a quick goodbye to Frostbite.

"So, Great One! Are you still coming for training next week?" He asked. Danny smiled as he walked away with the Avengers that had helped rescue him.

"A promise is a promise, right?"

"Aye. Now, go, and behave!" Frostbite laughed. Danny laughed to.

"Now that, I know I won't be able to promise."

He gave Frostbite one last wave and flew off, out of sight.

"Ah, he's definitely going to forget."


	51. Wail

When he was human, throughout his whole life, Danny had been silenced. His overbearing sister would interrupt him, his parents would talk over him, and the bullies at school would beat it out of him. So it shouldn't surprise him that his strongest power in his ghost form is his voice.

One that he couldn't use anymore.

He had used his voice to banter with ghosts and super villains and Fury whenever he annoyed Danny. It was, in his opinion, his most prized possession. Or at least, it was.

Vlad had teamed up with a few mutants from the Brotherhood. They captured him, held him down, made him drink Clockwork knows what. All he felt was burning and pain, like his throat was a volcano and anything he swallowed was the lava that burned the walls away. He couldn't eat hardly anything because the pain was so strong. When Logan had found him he was nothing more than skin and bones.

Thankfully Danny knew sign language thank to his few missions with Hawkeye from the Avengers, but at the Xavier institute he was pretty much the only one, which kind of made it all the more lonely.

They all noticed his change of mood. You would have had to be blind to not see it. Danny had become distant, forced into a sort of expressionless behavior. He wanted so badly to join in on the conversations, but he was always reminded by his dead vocal chords that he couldn't. It was driving him a little more than crazy.

It had almost gotten him and a couple of others killed in the Danger Room, because when he tried warning his friends, he couldn't. He was a danger to them and himself without his voice. That led him to thinking that maybe it was time for retirement. Maybe he should live his days out in the Zone, where nobody but Skulker would bother him. He could see Frostbite more often, and Clockwork too. It wouldn't be so bad, right?

It wasn't hard to sneak out of the school, what with his invisibility and intangibility helping him. But it was hard for him to leave. They took him in and helped him grow, helped protect him when nobody else would. He had made a family here, even if he wasn't technically a mutant. None of them had batted an eye at that; they were just happy to have a new family member. The more the merrier, as Beast had put it.

He forced himself to look ahead as he walked down the long driveway to the iron gates, wiping away the tears that began to blur his vision. If he looked back it would just hurt more.

"Kid, where do you think you're going?"

Danny stopped at the sound of Logan's voice but he didn't turn around. Instead he waited for Logan to catch up to him.

"So, you're leavin'?" Logan asked. Danny nodded, tightening his grip around the straps of his backpack. "Why?"

Danny turned to Logan forcefully, angry tears building up in his eyes. He opened his mouth and tried talking, but only ended up in a coughing fit.

"You're leavin' cause you can't talk anymore?" Logan sounded almost surprised. It was bound to happen sooner or later, Danny figured. But he just looked away, eyes closed. If he didn't have a voice what good was he? Yeah, he had special powers, but that what good have they done him so far? Absolutely none.

Logan had been speaking to him, he realized, but he hadn't been paying attention. But the mutant's rough hands on his shoulders shook him out of his thoughts. And if he started sobbing when Logan pulled him into an uncharacteristic hug, well, nobody was around to judge.

He gripped the back of Logan's jacket and made a wet spot on the front of his chest with his tears, taking in the alcohol and cigar smell. He couldn't remember when the smell became less disgusting and more comforting to him.

"You ain't useless just cause this happened to you. And it's gonna be hell coming back from it, but take it from someone who's literally been to hell and back: it is possible. Do you know how long it took Kitty to round up the students to teach them sign language so they could sign it at your surprise party?"

Danny looked up, his face puffy and red as he gave Logan a quizzical look.

"For your birthday. Don't tell her I told you, though." Danny cracked a smile at his mentor. He was thankful to have such good company hanging around to stop him from doing something stupid like running away in the middle of the night like some angsty teenager from a rom-com. Logan patted him on the back a couple of times and they separated, but he kept a hand on Danny's shoulder as they walked back to the school. Danny tapped Logan in the side to get him to look at him, before using sign language, placing his hand at his mouth and bringing it down in an arc.

_ Thank you.  _ Logan smiled and shoved him.

_ No problem, kid.. _

 


	52. Wail part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Could you do a continuation of the mute Danny one where his wail still works because it's pure emotion?

It was a long, drab year that was filled with one battle after another, but they had all managed. Fighting with his team, his family, had become much easier. Instead of using words, they signed or used a telepathic link. When he had lost his voice he honestly didn't expect everyone to change for him, not the other way around. But they had, tenfold, and Danny couldn't express how grateful he was because of them. The didn't treat him any differently either, which was a great relief to Danny. He didn't enjoy being treated like a delicate flower.

That being said, he was really glad nobody asked if he was okay when he was slammed out of the air and into the ground below by a blue and white blur. But they did sound very,  _ very  _ concerned.

Danny blinked the dirt out of his eyes an climbed out of the crater he had made, being more or less okay. His ribs would answer that question later.

_ Vlad,  _ he thought angrily. His eyes flared a bright green as he charged his hands up with ecto-energy. He jumped high into the air, going towards Vlad at an incredible speed. Vlad could only blink as a fist met with his lower jaw, sending him skyward before gravity could take effect.

"That was a nice hit, Daniel," he taunted after he straightened out again, "but where's that witty banter of yours? My, it has been a while since I've heard you joke about my cat."

Danny, too angry to properly focus, blasted him again and again, silently screaming at him for hurting him, for taking away his voice. While he had grown to accept the change, the wound was still fresh.

He wanted to speak with every punch that made contact on Vlad's face, that was quickly turning dark with bruises and his own green blood. Finally, Danny clasped his hands together and brought them down and Vlad's chest, sending him plummeting to the ground. The impact created a crater and scattered the few mutants that were around. In the back of his mind he noted that Logan was shooing away the newer, more inexperienced ones back inside before looking up at Danny. Vlad started to get up, but instead of going after him, he held himself and Storm back.

He was letting Danny have Vlad all to himself.

Danny descended, letting his natural speed and gravity help him go faster. He slammed into his arch nemesis forcefully and without mercy, creating an even larger hole in the ground. But Vlad still got up after a moment or two.

"Awe, little Daniel gonna cry?" Vlad tittered. "Go ahead. It's not like anyone will hear you."

Danny wanted to scream at him. He wanted to unleash all of the rage he felt towards the man. He felt a familiar power build up in his chest as he took a deep breath, rooting his stance into the ground.

It was by far the most powerful ghostly wail he had ever let out. It shattered the windows of the school, and it shattered Scott's visor and Beast's reading glasses as they all covered their ears. Vlad was taking the worst of it, however. He was holding on to the edge of the crater he made, trying not to fly off against his will, but to no avail. It seemed to go on forever, and the destruction only grew.

Even when Danny dropped to his knees from the shear amount of energy he was letting go, he still kept on. He was going to run out of breath soon, but he didn't care. He was filled with so much pain that he wanted to cry, and he's been wanting to let out his anger for so,  _ so  _ long. This was his time to finally get the closure he needed, albeit a painful one.

When it finally died down, he didn't have enough energy to stand let alone prevent the change from Phantom to Fenton. He let the white rings wash over him before he fell into the crater, unconscious.

Vlad had reverted back to Masters as well, but he had not been the one giving his energy into one blast. He blinked slowly, his ears ringing so loudly that he couldn't even hear himself talk. When he finally stood up, Wolverine was next to him. He growled and unsheathed his claws before Vlad raised his hands in the form of surrender and disappeared without a second thought. Logan sheathed his claws again and walked over to the crater, where Beast was picking Danny up. He scrawny kid must have been a lightweight to Beast.

Plasmius is gone," Logan said. His own ears were ringing, and he couldn't hear anything. He had to remind himself that if he was ever in the field with Danny again he needed to keep his distance,because he had super hearing. He didn't need to be super deaf.

"Coward," Beast spit as he climbed out of the hole. Danny looked a little worse for wear, with his torn clothes and battle scrapes, but for the first time in a long time he seemed to be at peace. Logan gave the sleeping child a wry smile.

"Damn kid did it again."

—

It had been three days since the incident with Vlad, and Danny was now returning from the Ghost Zone, hopefully with answers. All of the teaching staff waited patiently for the explanation he had to give.

Not a single soul dared blink as they watched Danny's hands rapidly give them the information. After all, Danny had turned into a mute. How was he able to still have his Ghostly Wail?

"Pure emotion?" Storm said, bewildered. Danny nodded, and Beast chuckled slightly.

"Remind me not to get you angry," he joked. Danny just shrugged, and then continued to sign.

_ All of my powers are linked to my emotions, so it makes sense,  _ he said.  _ I just didn't know that I could do that. I thought… _ he paused for a moment.  _ I thought I was never going to be able to make a vocal sound again. It's…Amazing, to say the least. _

"Well, Danny, I don't think it's the powers that are amazing," Xavier said as he gave the boy a soft but proud smile. "I think it's you who are amazing. You, who has fought with all odds stacked against him and won, time and time again. We are all very proud of you."

Danny signed a sincere thank you, because honestly, what else could you have said to something like that. Logan nodded at him, and he walked out of the room. He was immediately surrounded by students who were in awe of him, and Storm couldn't help but chuckle as the door was shut.

"He's a very brave, young man," Beast stated. The others nodded in agreement. Logan crossed his arms over his chest and smirked.

"Damn right, he is."


	53. Oppourtunity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Submitted by: God of the Challenge: Danny's parents find out he's half ghost, try to dissect him, chase him all the way to New York City, where the Avengers save his poltergeist posterior. Also, Mama widow and wasp

Danny grinned when he came out of the portal, thankful that the council meeting had gone well, and that Walker finally agreed to implement some laws Danny had suggested. While he was the king, and it was a monarchy, he wanted everyone's views on what could be done better as long as it was within a reasonable standard. He had been officially made King a few months prior, right after his eighteenth birthday. He never really thought he was good with his high school government classes, but with Clockwork and Frostbite's help, he had quickly grown accustomed to the politics of the Zone.

He yawned and changed into his human form, not noticing the way his mother's eyes widened as she came downstairs. Not noticing the way she pulled her gun on him with no hesitation. Crying out in pain as he was shot in the stomach by a well placed ectoblast from her gun. He fell to the ground, trying to ignore the large red stain growing on his hoodie. Maddie ran to him, and a wave of relief washed over him before he processed what had actually happened.

That feeling quickly vanished, however, when his mom pressed her heel into his chest, putting most of her weight onto it, making him groan. She placed her gun against his forehead, snarling at him. The it finally hit him.

His mother was the one that shot him.

His mother was going to kill him.

Danny convulsed in pain as electricity ran through his body. He was unable to phase out of the restraints due to them being ghost proof. He had no idea how long he had been their prisoner, but every day he was growing thinner. He could feel his strength leaving him as they conducted their experiments. It couldn't have been more than a few weeks at most, but when they whispered to each other, it sent a chill down his spine, and he struggled more.

"It's time, sweetie," Maddie said, holding up a gleaming scalpel.

Jack grinned as he pulled on a new pair of gloves and grabbed a pair of shears, cutting off Danny's shirt with ease.

"He's all yours, sweet cheeks," Jack said giddily as he watched his son squirm on the table. Maddie nodded and stabbed through his skin with no mercy, plunging the tool next to his right collarbone.

He couldn't help it.

He screamed.

* * *

 

When he woke up he knew he was still in the basement. However, the lights were off, the portal was closed, and his cuffs weren't glowing their usual green anymore. He phased himself out of the restraints and looked around. His parents-no-Jack and Maddie-were lying on the ground, unconscious. Jack had a bleeding head, and Maddie's leg was sticking out at an unnatural angle. He hadn't meant for his ghostly wail to come out, but he couldn't have just ;et them open him up like a frog either.

He looked down at his chest, noticing the scalpel still inside of him. She had managed to make a three inch cut, deep enough to go to his organs, and now it wouldn't stop bleeding. He pulled it out and pressed some gauze to it before heading upstairs. He didn't look back at his parents, or the carnage he cause the basement.

Danny didn't really know where he was going. He just picked a direction and hauled ass. After a whole day he thought maybe he was far enough to rest, but when he looked back and saw the Fenton Assault Vehicle, he was too afraid to stop.

He flew for three days straight, surprised that his beaten body was able to make the trip. They hadn't stopped either, but he couldn't have been more thankful to find a big city where there was traffic and streets to hide him from his parents. Where was he, anyway?

He flew a little higher so he could be above the buildings, and almost slapped himself in the forehead. It was so painfully obvious that he was in New York, what with the Avenger's tower and Empire State Building in view. He couldn't help the grin that grew on his face as he took in the sight.

But he marveled at it for too long.

A searing pain grew on his back as he was blasted to the ground, creating a sort of crater, causing panic. He groaned, trying to lift himself out of it before his parents caught up. He had to get going, he had to leave. He couldn't be caught again.

His shirt had been ripped to shreds by Jack and Maddie, and now it was just a glorified rag around his shoulders. He needed a better superhero getup anyhow, he supposed. He tore the remains of it off, as he finally got his feet under him. But before he could fly away, two people flew down next to the crater. One was Iron Man, who he recognized from TV, but the other woman he didn't know. She had short black hair, cut into some sort of bob thing, and steely eyes. Her wings fluttered a little behind her.

"Who are you, kid?" Iron Man asked, aiming his repulsors at him. The woman aimed her own small blaster at him.

"Listen, I can't stay here, I have to go," Danny said, holding up his hands in a type of surrendering way. he swallowed the lump in his throat, realizing that he was shirtless and they could probably see how marred his skin was from ghost fighting and the experiments. "They're after me," he tried again.

"Who?" Iron Man asked. But before Danny could answer, he was on the ground again, caught up in a ghost net. Jack was on him in seconds, pressing the barrel of a gun against his head.

"Nice try, ghost scum!" He yelled as he picked Danny up by the net. Danny looked to Iron Man, his eyes pleading as he struggled against Jack.

Suddenly he was free again, and when he looked up he saw a small trail of smoke rising from the woman's blaster. His father struggled to get up. Danny scooted away towards the heroes of New York, stopping only when Iron Man flew in between Jack and Danny.

"You do anything bad, kid?" He asked.

"You mean other than existing? No," he replied.

"In that case," the billionaire turned to Jack and Maddie, who had begun helping him up, "you guys better leave." He aimed his hand at the ghost hunters, a feeling of satisfaction going through him when he heard the whine of power in his palm.

"He's a monster!" Maddie cried, glaring daggers at him, then at Danny.

"Really?" The woman spoke for the first time. "Because the only monsters I see here are you two."

Danny had been so distracted by what was going on in front of him that he didn't realize that someone had come up behind him. Not until they were grabbing at the net. Danny immediately started struggling, only to be turned around and be face to face with  _ Captain fucking America.  _ He relaxed at his kind smile as he cut the net off of him. But that smile turned to a frown when he saw the wound on his chest from the scalpel. He turned to the couple, who were now standing, facing Iron man with a hard look in their eyes.

"He's a ghost," Jack spat. "And ghosts are evil! Every single one!"

"Well, I say you're not allowed to lay another hand on him," Cap said as he strode over, shield in hand. "He's under our protection now."

"What he's saying," Iron Man explained, "Is that if you touch him, you're going to have a whole league of pissed off superheroes on your ass. Now, do you really want that?"

They thought for a moment longer before Jack spat at his feet.

"Come on, Mads. Another day."

Maddie followed reluctantly, and they all watched as they climbed into the tricked out RV and drove away.

"Thanks," Danny said, not really knowing what else to say. Cap held out a hand and helped him to his feet, but Danny had been flying for three days straight without a break and it was really catching up to him. As soon as he was standing, he collapsed, right into Captain America's arms, not caring if the transformation rings went over his body or not.

* * *

 

When Danny woke up again, he was in an unfamiliar room, but he couldn't find himself to care. The bed underneath him and the covers on top of him felt to good.

When he finally decided to stand up a few hours later, he noticed that every single bone in his body ached. His joints all popped like he was Tucker after sitting in his gaming chair for too long. He vaguely noticed that he was wearing new clothes, but couldn't bring it in himself to care who had changed them. Obviously someone that was concerned for his well being. How had he gotten here anyway? He had been running away when-oh. That's right. He was with the Avengers. If he wasn't so tired he'd probably be jumping for joy. Instead he followed the directions a creepy, disembodied voice gave him.

He was led to a living room, where there were several adults just milling about. There was the woman he saw from earlier talking with a red headed woman who looked like she could kill him forty different ways just using a paper clip. On the couch there was a blonde guy drinking coffee straight from the pot watching the news with another blonde guy who kind of reminded Danny of Fabio.

"Glad to see you're awake."

Danny turned to see Captain America, unmasked and with a smile.  _ Geez, how many hot blonde guys live here?  _ Danny briefly thought.

"Glad to see I'm in good company," Danny replied, giving a smile of his own. Steve noticed how it didn't quite reach his eyes.

In the corner of his eye he saw the woman and red head walking towards him and  _ Captain fucking America. _

"This is Jan and Natasha," Steve introduced. "Over there is Clint and Thor. Jan was one of the ones that helped out a couple days ago."

"Wait, what?" Danny's eyes went wide. "How long have I been out?"

"Three days," Natasha answered easily, giving him a once over. "Looks like you really needed it."

"Oh. Well, uh, thanks," he said lamely. "For the help, I mean."

"Hey, kid," the coffee addicted hero called from the couch, tapping his ear a couple of times and turning a knob. "Are you gonna eat something or wake up Rhodes two floors up with your stomach?"

"He's got a point," Steve said. "When was the last time you had a good meal?"

"Also, can we get your name?"

"Danny, and...I don't know. What's the date?" Danny's voice was light hearted but he knew it didn't work when he saw the worry in Steve's eyes. Danny smiled at him a bit sheepishly.

"How does pizza sound?" Natasha asked, already dialing the number on her phone.

"Like heaven," Danny grinned.

"Hey, Danny," Steve pulled him aside as Natasha ordered pizza. "Do you have a place to stay?"

"No...Not anymore. Those people that were chasing me were my parents," Danny's voice was quiet, melancholy.

"Then how would you like to stay here?" Jan asked. "maybe pull some pranks on Scott."

Danny didn't know who Scott was, but the idea of pranking anybody sounded fulfilling. He smiled again.

"I'm in."


	54. Mistakes Always Start with Pizza, but so do Friendships

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Could we get a fic with Danny Phantom and Spiderman to celebrate Spiderman Homecoming

Spider-Man was doing pretty good, he thought. He aced his chem test and got a decent grade on his book report, which was always nice. And his Aunt May was out of town, leaving him to come and go as Spidey all he wanted until she got back. It was going fantastic.

Until he turned a corner and slammed into something, making him fall a good fifteen stories before he regained his composure and latched onto the wall.

"Holy shit, dude, are you okay?"

Spidey looked up to see a white haired figure floating above him, nothing but concern in his acidic green eyes.

"Yeah. I'm, uh, I'm fine. Who are you?" he asked, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that this floating guy was  _ glowing.  _ Why was he glowing?

"Oh name's Phantom, dude. You're that Spider-dude, right?"

Spidey noted how Phantom was borderline excited to meet him. Usually he didn't get that from superheroes. He got the  _ You're just a kid! You shouldn't be saving the world on a school night!  _ Stick. It was weird but refreshing to have someone other than a five year old be excited to meet him.

"So, are you like a ghost or something?" Spidey asked. Phantom thought for a moment before shrugging.

"Or something, I guess. Hey, do you wanna get a pizza?" He asked. "The one I had kind of fell fifty stories."

"Ghosts eat pizza?" the words were out before he could stop them. Phantom didn't seem to care. In fact, he looked almost amused by the statement.

"Well, some ghosts do. So, what do you say?"

Spider-Man's stomach growled at the thought of pizza, answering the ghost's question for him. Phantom chuckled.

"Yeah, sure," Spidey finally said. "What could go wrong?"

Spider-Man had to remind himself not to ask  _ what could go wrong.  _ Because if you ask that, the universe apparently takes it as a challenge.

All they did was go in for a pizza. But then some sort of ghost came and everything went to shit. Now his favorite pizza place was in shambles and his sit smelled like that green stuff Phantom shot out of his hands. He didn't know what it was but he really hoped it would wash out of his suit.

"Sorry about that," Danny said, not able to look him in the eye as he held the thermos close to him. "Skulker is a bit...Well, let's just say he could probably use a lonely guy cat or something."

"No biggy," Spidey said, making a disgusted face under his mask as he stepped in a pile of green ooze.

"What is this stuff?" He groaned, trying to wipe his boot off.

"That's ectoplasm, dude," Phantom said. "It's what ghosts are made of/ Check it out."

He turned and lifted his arm so that Spider-Man could see the large gashes right below his ribs, oozing the same green substance, now with flecks of red in it.

"Dude, are you okay?" Spidey asked, concerned.

"Yeah, it'll be closed up by tomorrow. Healing factor and all that," he said with a wince.

"Does he always call you a whelp when you fight?"

"Yeah. Dude's been hunting me since I was fourteen," Danny let out a laugh. "He calls himself the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter, but he still doesn't have my pelt on his wall."

"Ew."

"I know, right? Anyway...I think pizza is off the table, now."

They both looked back at the charred building that once brought happiness with its circular masterpieces.

"I know a sweet sandwich shop a couple blocks from here," Spider-man suggested.

"Sounds good to me, dude," Phantom grinned at him.

"So you're a halfa?" Spider-man asked through a mouthful of food. They were sitting on the edge of some tall skyscraper or another. "How does that work?"

"Well, when you get electrocuted with about 10,000 volts of ectoplasmic electricity it changes your physiology."

"Sounds...Painful."

"Yeah, it was. What about you? How'd you get yours?"

"Radioactive spider bite."

"Should have guessed that," Phantom laughed. "What if it had been like, a radioactive fly or something? Then you'd be screwed."

"I'd have those giant compound eyes and some gnarly wings," Spider-Man laughed, gesturing to his face.

"They'd write comics about you! The Amazing Fly-Boy!"

"Uh, that's Fly- _ Man  _ to you, Phantom," Spidey asked.

"Ability to gross everyone out without even trying!" Phantom continued, leaning against the gargoyle as he held his sides from laughing so hard.

"Fear me!" Spider-Man laughed, tears forming in his eyes. Phantom chuckled some more before finally settling down.

"We should do this more often, dude," Phantom said. Spider-Man nodded.

"I agree."

Clockwork couldn't help but smile as he saw Daniel and Peter laugh along side each other. Even though it was just beginning, he knew this friendship between the two would last lifetimes. One of the greatest friendships to ever go down in history was happening right before his eyes. It could have began in so many different ways, but knowing Daniel he knew this way was probably the best.

Who knew pizza had so much power.


	55. Oppourtunity part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Submitted by God of the Challenge: I would like to see a continuation of 53, where Maddie tries to take Danny back, claiming he is her son and he will listen to her or some dribble like that. And as you can imagine, Widow, Wasp, and now Ms. Marvel and Scarlet Witch have some not so nice things to say.

Clint was startled by the ringing that suddenly echoed throughout the living room, looking around, confusion spread across his face. Danny, sitting on the other side of the couch, thought it was amusing.

When the Avengers said he was under their protection, he was thankful for that. It meant he could mend his wounds and be in the skies in a few days, but when they told him he could stay, that he could become a part of the team after they saw what he could do, well, he would have been a fool to turn them down. It's been almost a year now, and some days when he woke up he still couldn't believe he was fighting along side his childhood heroes. And now he wasn't the youngest one anymore, either. Spider-Man had just officially accepted a spot on the team. A part time job, but he was just happy he got to hang out with his friend more often.

"That's a doorbell, Clint," Tony said teasingly, making Clint stick out his tongue.

"Since when does this place have a doorbell?" Wanda asked. Jan and another new member, Carol Danvers, nodded in agreement.

"Since Friday got tired of telling me there were people at the door. Jarvis was so much better," Tony replied.

_ "I heard that,"  _ Friday said, her disembodied voice ringing with irritation. Tony just waved her off and walked down the hall to open the doors. The voice that Danny heard next sent chills down his spine, but nobody seemed to notice as he was the only one in the room with super hearing.

"Mr. Stark," Maddie Fenton bit.

"It would be wise for you to leave, Mrs. Fenton," Tony spat. He remembered what they did to Danny. He's seen the scars and the trauma. He knows Danny still gets up in the middle of the night to make himself the hot cocoa. He knows that Danny really dying was their fault, too, what with their stupid ghost portal. He was going to make sure Danny stayed safe, even if that meant from his own parents.

He hears Danny's screams from down the hall when he sleeps.

"You can't stop me from seeing my son. He;s only sixteen, meaning that I still have custody over him. Tell him to come here."

Danny had been so focused on listening to the argument that he hadn't noticed Jan, Wanda, and Carol standing up to go see what was happening. Clint was still distracted by the fact that they had a doorbell. Once Danny realized the absence of the three women he quickly followed.

"Danny is  _ my  _ son and has to listen to me! I am his mother!" Maddie was yelling at them now. Danny went invisible and moved closer.

"With all due respect," Natasha (when had she gotten there?) said, not hiding the venom in her voice from the shorter red head, "you gave up being his mother when you shot at him."

"Get off our lawn," Carol said, punching one glowing fist into her other glowing palm threateningly. Maddie scoffed.

"You think I'm afraid of  _ you _ ? You're just a bunch of kids in Halloween costumes pretending to be heroes. Now  _ give me my son!" _

This was about to get really out of hand, Danny realized. His mom was stubborn and pissed, and that was a horrible combination to see her in. It almost scared him a little.

"You're trespassing. And also lucky I haven't called security," Tony replied. He was tense, and Danny saw how he was trying to hard not to lose his cool. His jaw was cleched and his fingers were white from pinching his jacket to tightly. Natasha seemed cool and collected, but he had grown to know her signs of anger as well. Her hip jutted out as she took a sort of power stance, placing her hand on her hip and looking Maddie dead in the eye. Carol her muscular arms crossed over her chest, glaring at the shorter woman. Wanda was seething, tossing a red energy ball back and forth in a threatening matter that, though silent, screamed  _ I dare you. _

"He is my son and you will not keep me from him," his mother spoke in a dangerously low tone that Danny knew meant they had three seconds to let her pass or she would try and make them pass. He was preparing to make himself known, to tell her to leave. That she wasn't welcome. But Natasha beat him to it.

"A mother doesn't experiment on their own son, whether he has powers or not. A mother doesn't  _ kill  _ her son. A mother doesn't hunt them down with big guns and glowing nets. A mother doesn't call her son scum. Danny is the best kid I have ever met, and if you even so much as look at him funny your neck will be twisted six ways from Sunday. Do I make myself clear?" As she spoke Natasha had moved closer, getting right in Maddie's face. Her tone stayed a level monotone, but her eyes told them all that she wasn't kidding when she said she'd kill Maddie if she tried anything.

"You don't scare me," Maddie stated, not backing down. "Now move out of my way so I can see my son."

"He does not want to see you," Wanda spat.

_ That's right,  _ Danny thought.  _ She's a telepath and an empath. She can feel my emotions. She's probably the only one that knows I'm  _ right  _ here. _

You don't know my Danny like I do."

"We know him well enough to know he'd be better off without you," Carol stepped in. Maddie, seething with rage now, stepped forward, pulling her hand back. But Danny got there before she could do much else.

He stepped in front of Carol and caught the punch before dropping his invisibility. His blue eyes glared daggers at his birth giver.

"Danny!" Maddie cheered, dropping her hands and bringing him into a hug. Instead of returning the gesture, he gripped her shoulders and pulled him back.

"Stop," he told her. "Go back to Amity." Despite all Maddie had done to him, it still hurt to see her face fall. It still hurt him to break her heart. But it was better this way.

"But-but you're my son. You are going to come home with me this instant, young man!" Maddie said, reaching for his ear. He caught her wrist and put it in a death grip. He felt his anger spike, and judging by the look on her face he guessed that his eyes weren't blue anymore. He snarled and threw her wrist away, making her body turn with it.

"Get lost,  _ Maddie,"  _ he said. That seemed to make it more real for her, that he wanted nothing more to do with her. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she eyes him for a couple more moments before turning and leaving. Tony put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he just shrugged it off and went inside.

Maddie looked back to her son one last time.

Danny didn't.


	56. In the Grave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: could you do a fic where danny meets either the avengers or maybe spidey and they find out he's a ghost but think he's a legit crime fighting dead kid and not a halfa?

Danny groaned as he pulled himself out of some busted car, having been slammed into it by Skulker. He blasted the hunter with an ice-ecto mix, making him sink to the ground. He landed with a horrible sounding crunch. Danny flew over and punched him in the face so hard his helmet was knocked off. He then grabbed the squirming little ghost and tossed him in the air before catching him with the thermos. He placed the cap back on and turned around, ready to fly back to Amity, wherever that was. He had no idea what natural portal he got stuck in with Skulker, but he knew it wasn't anywhere near home.

At least it wasn't one that sent him through time.

He saw an explosion in he distance, and for some reason his tired brain thought it would be a good idea to go there and ask people where the hell he was, because he sure as heck didn't know. Thakfully it only took him a few minutes to get there, and when he did, his eyes popped out of his skull.

He saw Captain freaking America fighting some robots while some other guy in red tights swung by and tied a small cluster of them together with some sort of white stuff coming from his wrists. There were a few other heroes fighting about, and it was quite possibly the greatest thing he had ever seen.

There were too many robots for Danny's taste, so he decided to jump into the fire and take down as many as he could. After all, the only thing better than a superhero team up was seeing Clockwork in a Christmas hat.

He quickly swept through a large group, flying through them and messing up their systems with a few, making them implode with others. But it made the task go by much faster, especially when the Avengers didn't really question his presence. They saw him help and decided to just accept it, knowing that they could always ask all of the important questions when they were done.

With Danny's help it only lasted a few more minutes, which everbody was kind of thankful for. As he touched back to the ground a small circle of world famous heroes surrounded him with raised eyebrows and their guards up.

"Kid, who are you?" Iron man asked. Danny, despite still being kind of small, puffed out his chest proudly.

"Name's Phantom," he said, striking a sort of hero pose that made the arrow guy-what was his name? Hawk Guy?-Snort.

"Phantom?" he was close enough to recognize now, Danny realized. It was a new suit, but he would know that web slinger from youtube anywhere. "Like, as in ghosts?" Danny nodded and grinned.

"Yeah, that's me. I'm a ghost."

"Like, walk through walls, turn invisible, supernaturally flick things against the wall kind of ghost?" Hawkeye asked.

"Well, I can't do that last one but yeah. See?" He stuck his hand through Hawkeye's chest, partly to show him he wasn't lying and partly because he wanted to see what his reaction would be. Danny almost doubled over with laughter at the look on his face.

"So you're like, dead," Iron Man stated.

"Well, that is the definition of a ghost, isn't it?" Danny shot back.

"But you're only a kid," Captain America stated. He was appaled that someone as great as Phantom had died so young, now spending the rest of his afterlife fighting crime. But Phantom didn't seem to mind. In fact, he just kind of shrugged.

"Well, yeah, I guess," he said casually, "But accidents happen."

"How did you die?" Spider-man asked. "I-if you don't mind me asking, that is," he stuttered slightly, not realizing how rude the question seemed now that it was said out loud.

"My parents are inventors and ghost hunters and they built a portal. It didn't work, so I went in to just goof around with my friends and tripped on the wires and boom-I'm a ghost."

Captain America frowned, not like the idea of a kid dying because of his parents-his decisions, but his parents not supervising nonetheless. It must have been painful.

"What did they do, put the on button on the inside?" Iron Man scoffed.

"Yes," Danny replied, completely serious.

"Oh. Well, I guess that makes the idea less funny then."

"So if you're a ghost why are you...fighting crime?" Cap asked. Danny shrugged again, and they all began to notice that it was a common thing for the spirit to do.

"Because I like helping people? I mean, I get all these cool powers, and sure, they're fun using them for stuff I don't need to use them for, but I wanted to do more, you know? I mean, I can share my power with the world in a good way. I like helping people." Danny placed a hand to his chest, feeling the cold of his core pulsing with energy right next to his beating heart.

"So where are you from, kid?" Hawkeye asked.

"Amity Park. Speaking of which, how far away is that? I need to get back."

"It's on the other side of the world, dude," Spider-Man answered. This didn't seem to phase the ghost as all. He just shrugged again.

"Well, I guess. Hey, um-If you guys need any-like-just call me if there's another alien invasion of something, okay? I could totally kick some more butt with you guys."

Cap nodded, not really knowing what else to say to the kid. He grinned and thanked them before opening a swirling green portal and flying through it.

"So..." Iron Man said. "Ghosts, am I right?"

"I can't believe they're real," Spidey breathed in awe. This was so cool!

"I think it's time to do some research on Amity," Tony told Cap. He nodded his agreement and looked at Spider-man jumping around excitedly about how ghosts were real. Spider-Man was jsut as young as the spirit. What if he had died when he got his powers like Phantom? It was kind of scary to think about,and having that on his consciounce was not something the super soldier was looking forward to.

"I'm gonna go take a vacation," Steve replied, knowing Tony would understand what he meant.

"Do you want to take Green Bean with you?" Tony asked, already running facial recognition on people that have died in Amity.

"No, but maybe the kid. I'm sure he'll be excited to sight see."

Cap looked over at Spider-man again, this time smiling at his child like wonder as he looked at Big Ben in the distance. He coughed slightly to get his attention.

"Hey kid?" he asked. Spider-man looked towards him, giving him his full attention. He ignored Clint rolling his eyes as he nodded his head slightly. "Want to go on another field trip?

 


	57. Venom part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Could you please write a thing where Danny finds out that due to his time with the venom symbiote, he can do ghostly-versions of some of Venom's powers? (ecto webs, able to shape-shift his ectoplasm into blades, etc?)

"So...What does that mean?" Danny asked Tony and Bruce, unable to refrain from squirming at the feeling of being attached to the various machines around him.

"What he means is," Bruce started, "Is that because you've been attached to Venom for so long your ghostly abilities have learned to do the things he can."

"Like being a rip-off of Spidey?" Danny asked. He was upset. While he did think Spider-Man's powers were cool and all, he didn't exactly want them. Ecto-webs weren't as cool as they sounded.

"Yeah, because our little wall-crawling friend gave that ability to Venom the very first time they bonded."

"If this is happening to my powers how come none of this has happened to his?"

"Because he has different powers," Bruce explained. "Venom, in lack of better words, came here with no powers except the usual host bonding situation. So he was able to gain stuff from Spidey, so when it bonded with you for the first time it left a residue of some of that power."

"Like a superhero STD?" Danny cocked his head to the side, Tony snorting from amusement before answering.

"Not really, but close enough, I guess. How do you feel?"

"Normal," Danny was unsure as to why he should feel any different just because of some new ecto-based powers. Really the only powers he's been able to physically feel was the discovery of his ice powers.

"Try doing the web thing again, at that wall," Tont pointed to the one past the holo-screens. He wasn't really sure if he could do it or not. Maybe it was a one time, heat of the moment type thing. But he held out his hand anyway, willing the ectoplasm in him to come forth as a web rather than his normal blasts. But what happened next surprised them all.

Instead of webtoplasm, it was a sort of blade. It wasn't anything to fancy, just a basic hilt and a sharper than possible edge that was slightly curved at the end. Danny dropped it in surprise, and it turned into a pure ectoplasmic puddle at his feet.

"What the hell was that? Spider-Man can't do that!" Danny said. It was all so surreal, and he almost felt like he was going to collapse from to many surprises in one day.

"No, but Venom can," Tony said, trying to calm the kid down. "He can shapeshift his molecular structure into anything with any texture, solidity, and shape."

"So I can make swords with ectoplasm now? Not just ice?" Danny sounded kind of half worried, half confused, and he didn't know how to handle this situation. Ghost powers, sure. But ghost powers unwillingly inherited by an alien symbiote? He felt violated to say the least.

"I think it might be permanent," Bruce said. By the look in his eye Danny could tell it was more to himself than the ghost boy, who was now looking even more worried than before.

"Permanent? No, it can't be permanent! I don't want it to be!"

"Well did you want the universe to do a half assed job in killing you just so you could get ghost powers?" Tony asked, busy studying the data.

"Not at first, no. Dying isn't fun."

"Well, those are permanent. This is too. You'll grow up and get used to it. Hell, maybe even learn to use these new abilities. We're still trying to figure out how much you can really do with your powers since you seam to have so many of them."

"That is true. Maybe these were always there and just got kick-started by Venom?" Bruce suggested. There was a twinkle in his eye, the kind Danny only ever saw when he was working in the lab. The gears in the Doctor's head were turning and it was obvious. This whole situation, from a scientist point of view, made the two older men downright  _ giddy. _

Danny wouldn't admit it, but Tony did have a point. Maybe he could learn to like these powers. He could have Frostbite teach him how to use different kinds of blades, and he could one-up Spidey. Though his new power was sort of cool, he couldn't see himself using the ecto-webs very often.

"Bruce come look at this," Tony said, waving the good doctor over. Tony had moved from the screen to the microscope, and judging by the tone of his voice, whatever he saw was pretty exciting.

"What is it?" Danny said impatiently. "Let me see."

"It's a blood sample, Danny," Bruce explained as he turned a knob on the microscope. "There's Venom in it."

"So the powers are from him," he realized. "Isn't that bad, though? Can't Venom grow inside of me and shit?"

"Not you, kiddo," Tony sat down, his hand sliding through his unkept hair. "See, it's running around in your ectoplasm and  _ technically  _ ectoplasm isn't really living. It's a power source like human blood, except, you know, dead. So your very system is keeping Venom from growing. You won't have anything to worry about."

"Is there any way you could flush him out, though?"

"Not likely," Bruce answered. "It's not like a drug you can wait out. It may not be growing but it's alive...in a sense...and won't leave. Even if it wanted to I don't think it could. Your ectoplasm is thicker than most other substances, on top of being mixed with your human blood."

"So it's inside of me? Forever?"

"I'm afraid so. Will it make you feel better if I buy you a pizza?"

"No but do it anyway, I'm starving."

"Brat," Tony said, but there was no fire behind it. He pulled out his phone and left the room. Bruce turned to Danny and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be fine, Danny," he spoke gently. Danny sighed.

"But what if it isn't? What if it does grow inside of me and I turn into some gross ecto-venom dude who can't be stopped?"

"We have a plan for that," Bruce promised, pushing his eyeglasses up.

"Already? What is it?"

"It's called the Avengers. Whatever happens, you'll be fine."

"Fine."

"You're gonna call Spider-Man now aren't you?"

"Well, who else is gonna beat him at his own game?" Danny was grinning now as he headed for the door. Right before he left though, he turned around.

"Hey, Bruce!"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." Then he left. Bruce smiled to himself, looking back up at the blinking screens once again.

"No problem, Danny."


	58. Lightning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This has definitely been my favorite one to write so far, so I hope you guys enjoy!

When the Avengers met Danny, they figured the kid had been through a lot of shit in the past. Enough to become half ghost. So when he would be vague about answering questions or needed time up in his room, none of them really questioned it.

What threw most of them for a loop though was the way he dressed.

He wore sleeves, even in the summer despite having an ice core and probably needing the cold for it. Whether it was a sweater or a jacket, he was always covered up. It was the complete opposite of his personality. He was always so open and laughing and joking around with them, but if he ever had the urge to roll up his sleeves he would ignore it and distract himself from that longing with more conversation. Now he was 20, and they still hadn't ever really looked at his arms much.

They all found out why soon enough, however.

When Bruce found out it was because of a mission gone wrong, and he needed to tend to Danny's wounds. He was really the only one qualified to do that kind of thing, so the others left to give him all of his concentration in helping their fallen friend.

Danny was unconscious and had reverted back to his human form. His leather jacket was ruined from the blood, and he was going to need a new shirt considering Bruce just sliced through it to get to the wounds.

He quickly cleaned him up and stitched the gashes in his side, quickly but precisely. When he was done with that, He cleaned up the rest of his torso, throwing his jacket and shirt in the trash.

As he wiped and wiped, he began to notice something strange. He had heard of these types of scars, but had never actually seen them in person.

Until now that is.

There were long, short, jagged, smooth, black lines running all along Danny's torso, covering his chest, stomach, back, arms, and Bruce was gonna go ahead and guess his legs too. It was the type of mark you got when you've been struck by lightning and survived.

It all made sense now. Why he covered up was to avoid questions he didn't want to answer. Why he went to his room was so nobody could see him in pain, because despite having survived, he knew they could burn like nobody's business. Why he never swam with them. That one time Clint pulled a prank and Danny came out with his torso and arms invisible, which would still be comical if not for the reasoning Bruce had discovered.

He decided he wasn't going to ask Danny about them. It was his business, and when he decided he was going to tell he would. Instead, he just draped a blanket across the sleeping ghost and sat down at his computers, keeping an eye on him and his vitals.

* * *

 

Next was Thor, who had been fighting with Danny in the gym as he was a worthy opponent indeed. Though he wore sleeves, he seemed unbothered by the extra heat his body was taking.

Thor and Danny had been at it for hours, tossing banter back and forth like it was a hacky sack and legitimately enjoying themselves, one super being to another. It was when they were taking a water break that Thor noticed something odd.

The water itself wasn't odd, but when Danny had lifted his shirt up to wipe the sweat from his face. Thor's eyes narrowed at the black markings on his friend's stomach, eyes widening with realization. He had seen those markings on several of the beings he had fought throughout his life. Those were the scars of those who had survived his lightning attacks.

"Daniel," Thor's voice was tinged with worry. "I have seen those marking across your skin many times before." He just needed reassurance, not noticing the way Danny stiffened and straightened out his shirt. "I know what those are from but I must ask-was I the one to cause you that harm?"

Danny stared at him, absolutely dumbstruck at Thor's worried expression. He was asking if he had killed Danny? What? Danny almost laughed, but instead he just smiled and shook his head.

"No, dude. I got these from when I..." his voice lowered to w whisper and he looked to the ground. "From when I died."

It had occurred to Thor that he nor the others have been told how he had died, for it was a very touchy subject among Daniel's kind. Hearing the aftermath he felt like he was trespassing on emotional grounds. The ice was thin and one wrong move would make him fall to his death. But Danny just smiled at him again, punching his arm in the soft, kind way that mortals do, and laughed. He  _ laughed,  _ as if Thor hadn't overstepped his boundaries.

"It's no big deal, Thor," Danny said, placing a hand on the Thunderer's shoulder. "Don't worry about it." Thor gave him a look, unsure if Danny actually meant it, but nodded nonetheless.

"Aye, as you wish."

* * *

 

Clint really needed to learn to stay out of Danny's room. But he just had so many knick knacks to play with and fancy ghost guns that glowed, and he knew that if he left before Danny got out of the shower he'd be fine.

Only sometimes Clint didn't realize when his hearing aids ran out of batteries. So when he was playing with a ghost-level finger trap and getting frustrated because he couldn't get out of it, he hadn't noticed Danny coming up behind him. Not until he was already behind him, turning Clint around. He seemed pretty ticked off, and was talking to him, but he wasn't looking at Danny's lips. No, instead his eyes traveled across his torso, raking his eyes across the multitude of scars that marred the skin from both ghost hunting and world saving. But there was one that never seemed to end. Noticing this, Danny had turned his top half invisible.

Danny was so dumb. He should have put on a shirt. But he had gotten so used to the idea of his room being the only place in the Tower where he could walk around shirtless and not worry about prying eyes. Only to find out that Clint was the one who had been messing with all of his stuff.

He noticed Clint wasn't even listening. He snapped his fingers, yelled the archer's name, but he didn't respond. He sighed and walked over to his night stand and pulled out a pack of batteries, throwing them to Clint with in irritated look.

"Oh. Er-thanks. but uh, how do I get out of this?" He held up his trapped fingers and Danny rolled his eyes, his irritation slowly melting away as he pressed against the encrusted design on the top, releasing Clint's fingers.

"Thanks. And hey, Danny," Clint said as Danny started walking away. He stopped when he heard his name. "I won't tell anybody. But if you want to talk about it or anything I hear my shoulder is pretty comfy."

"Clint, you can't hear at all."

"Asshole."

Despite himself, Danny was grinning now, nodding his head and considering Clint's offer. He nodded.

"Thanks, Clint."

* * *

 

She had known from the start that Danny had something about his body he wanted to hide, and Natasha hadn't been able to figure it out. But judging by the sudden increase in trips Danny had to Clint's room, she figured her best friend had found out. She didn't pry, though. Clint wouldn't spill Danny's secret, not even to her. It was one of the reasons she admired him.

She knocked on Danny's door after a few months of this. Fury had given her an assignment, and she was pretty sure it involved ghosts. All she needed was a few pieces of his equipment and maybe a thermos. She knew Danny would be mad at her if she ever ended any of the ghosts.

She knocked again, and for the second time she gained no answer. A small knot of worry grew in her stomach, her instincts telling her something was wrong. She quickly had Jarvis open up the door for her, immediately being blasted with a cry of pain coming from the bathroom in Danny's room.

She quickly ran over, nearly kicking down the door. But Danny didn't even seem to notice. He was curled up into a ball, eyes squeezed shut and his breathing heavy. He was shirtless, and Natasha stared for one moment more before running to his fridge and grabbing a cup of ice before coming back over.

Somehow she managed to get him into a sitting position, uncurling him slowly. She was able to give him something else to focus on. Her voice, the cold from the ice cubes she rubbed against this back and chest across the black lines zig-zagging across him. She knew what those scars were caused by, and guessed that that was how he had died. But instead of questions coming from her mouth, it was an old Russian lullaby, soothing him. It took a while, but his body finally relaxed, and his eyes drooped a little bit, tired from all of the pain. All of the heat.

He slumped against her, and she set the ice cubes down. She kept singing, this time running her hands through his hair, urging him just to the brink of sleep before stopping. He was so tired he didn't even notice. And when she got him to stand up and walk over to the bed, she was sure he wasn't going to remember much of what had happened.

After she tucked him in she grabbed some ghost equipment and left a note, telling him she was borrowing his stuff and that if anything like that happened again to give her a call. She made Jarvis promise to call her if that happened and she was in the building.

Danny didn't have to be alone anymore.

* * *

 

When Steve finds out, it's because of Frostbite. Danny loves him, but sometimes he just can't keep his big mouth shut.

Captain America had accompanied Danny to the Far Frozen for a friendly cup of tea and whatnot. Steve found it odd that, despite the cold nature of the yetis, they preferred warm tea over any other drink.

Thanks to Tony tinkering around with the suit, Cap could walk through the unbearable cold all nice and toasty, minus the exposed part of his face. The two trekked through the snow, side by side without really saying much. Both of them knew that it was fine though. They were their more for the company than the small talk.

Despite being fully aware that Danny had an ice core, he still worried for the boy when he walked through the snow in nothing but his upgraded suit and a new jacket. The black leather went nicely with the skin tight suit.

"Cap? You okay?" Danny asked, knocking Steve from his thoughts.

"Yeah. I guess I'm just not used to seeing anybody walk though this much snow with practically nothing on. I worry about you sometimes," he replied smoothly. Danny made sort of a snorting sound, amused by Cap thinking he even needed his jacket.

"Halt!" They heard. "Identify yourselves!"

"Relax, it's just me!" Danny yelled back, trying to be heard over the wind.

"Great One?"

"Who else?" Danny rolled his eyes but there was a big smile nonetheless. A few moments later Frostbite emerged, bring Danny in for a hug before guiding him and Steve over to his cave, where it was significantly warmer.

"What brings you to the Far Frozen, Great One?"

"Well, I mean, you make the best tea in the Zone. And I thought it would be nice to just hang out. I brought Steve, too."

"The young captain is welcome at any time, Great One."

There seemed to be an unspoken something between the two that Steve couldn't quite pin down, but he was sure that whatever it was, it was none of his business. The thought drifted away quickly when he caught himself having fun, laughing at the stories Frostbite had of Danny, sharing a few of his own. Danny came prepared though, having though of a few stories of Cap he knew Frostbite would get a kick out of. He found himself...Relaxed.

That is until Danny frowned at his tea.

"Dude, did you spike my tea or something? It tastes different than normal."

"Why yes! It is a new pain medication I brewed myself to help with the scars! The pain will be less, and the heat will be less frequent. Of course, you will have to drink it a coupe times a week, but I have unlimited supplies at my disposal."

"Scars? That...Burn?" Cap asked worriedly, turning to Danny. He went pale, and refused to meet Steve's eyes. Frostbite, knowing he had fucked up, tried fixing the solution.

"Oh, um, from his ghost fights!" It was a piss poor attempt, but Steve had to admire the king for trying. "As you probably know, ectoplasm burns through the veins, and is especially hard on people with ice cores, such as the Great One." Frostbite gave him a toothy smile that wasn't really convincing. Danny would have laughed if it had been under better circumstances.

"I was electrocuted, Cap," Danny said, knocking away Frostbite's lie. "Lightning leaves scars that burn. Some days it feels like I'm dying all over again, so I asked Frostbite if he could whip something up to help with that. Take a look."

Steve did, not really knowing what to say as Danny took off his jacket, then unzipping the top half of his suit to revel the lightning across his skin, a black-ish blue in color. He looked like he was covered in permanent bruises, and there wasn't an inch of him that didn't have them on top of his scars from ghost hunting and crime fighting. They some how looked brand new, being raised on the skin despite having them since he was fourteen.

"And it burns?" Steve asked again. Danny nodded and shrugged.

"Yeah, sometimes. But Natasha helps with that whenever she's in town."

"Who else knows?"

"Now? I think it's everybody. Bruce found out when he stitched me up, Clint found out when he was going through my shit, Thor found out when we were sparring, you get the picture."

"What about Tony?"

"I'll tell him. Eventually."

By the tone in Danny's voice Steve knew that he was planning something mischievous, and it made him smile.

"Well, I'm here for you if you need me." Danny smiled at him, and at Frostbite.

"Always, Cap."

* * *

 

Tony found out when Danny was half way through figuring out how he was going to show him, and it made Danny a little disappointed. But it was better late than never, he supposed.

Tony had always been obsessed with upgrading not only him, but the team as well. This included Danny and his HAZMAT suit. This time without sleeves, and an ecto shield that activated if he ever encountered a big bad like Vlad, and now had a shock absorbing feature because despite being able to go intangible, Danny had a knack for making craters in the street, and he knew that that was no good on the boy's back.

"Dan-Dan, nice of you to finally join me," Tony said, turning around quickly and dramatically as he could in his rolly chair. He threw the suit at Danny, who caught it with ease. "Put that on. We're going to run some tests."

"Bossy much?" Danny grinned before heading to the other room. He came out a few minutes later, typing something in on his phone, not noticing the way Tony's eyes bugged out of his head when he saw the markings on his arms. Danny seemed unconcerned, though.

"Danny, how long have you had those?" Tony asked. He didn't to make a big deal out of it. Because it wasn't one. Unless it was and he's just been hiding it from them the whole time.

"These?" Danny asked, looking down at his exposed arms. It felt good to finally be rid of sleeves. And everyone else already knew. It was finally time he ditched the jackets and sweaters that were holding his core back. "Since I got my powers." It was like some great weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He didn't feel like he had to hide them anymore, and they didn't seem to bother anyone all that much. It was...Nice.

"Oh," Tony said before composing himself once again. He shrugged. "Okay. Are you going to tell the others?"

"They all already kind of...Found out?" Danny had the nerve to look sheepish.

"You mean  _ I  _ am the last one to know? Danny I thought we had a special bond!" Tony whined. Danny scoffed.

"Please, I'm not Bruce. Now, come on, tell me what the new suit can do, dude."

It was something Danny still didn't want to talk about. Despite always having a knack for prying, Tony knew when it was best not to. So he turned back to his work and started off with the science jargon he knew Danny couldn't understand but pretended like he could. Tony smiled to himself when Danny asked for him to say it in normal people terms.

Maybe in the next suit he could install a cooling system...


	59. Oppourtunity part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Submitted by: God of the Challenge: Wait wait, another continuation of 53, but Danny is hit with a surprise attack from the Fentons. Enter She Hulk, Deadpool, Tigra, and Ghost Rider.

Danny was just trying to have a normal day, playing fetch with Cujo high above the city and praying to Clockwork the dog would catch the ball before it hit the street. It was their only one, and he really didn't want to go all the way back to the Tower to get the spare. Maybe he should move this to the park...

Before he could act upon the idea, however, he felt something wrap itself around his ankle and pull him down. He tried going intangible but whatever was wrapped around his ankle kept him from doing so. He tried flying away, maybe using his strength against whoever had him, but whatever was pulling him down to the roof was not giving up.

He let out a cry of pain as his body created a small crater in the roof of an apartment complex not far from where he had been playing with Cujo. The wind had been knocked out of him, and he felt like he couldn't breathe. It was worse with the pain. He clutched at his chest, trying to feed his lungs with the New York air, but that was quickly interrupted by a thick hand grabbing his burning ankle and swinging him into the ground before swinging him again. This time he was let go, and Danny went flying. He hit the bars of a green cage before falling to the ground, groaning. Every muscle and bone in his body ached.

"Way to go, Sweetie!" He heard. If he could he would have groaned with annoyance. These two just wouldn't give up, would they?

"Seriously?" Danny sighed, exasperated. "Can't you guys just give it a rest already?"

"Not until we rip you apart, molecule by molecule!" Jack bellowed, hugging Maddie closer to him.

"You've been preaching that for years and you've never come close!" Danny yelled, getting frustrated. The cage was ghost proof, and he had been swung around like a rag doll, so unless he did some quick thinking he was never going to get out.

Then there was that sound. Danny looked around, not knowing what it was, but it was getting louder. Where was it coming from?

Out of nowhere (the sky, Danny would later find the words for), a red blur rolled in front of him, coming up to his full height.

"Deadpool?" Danny asked. It was probably the only tie he'd ever been excited to see there mercenary. "How id you know I was up here?"

"Its the author's way of bringing me into the story like the god asked," Deadpool replied, bringing out his katanas and facing his parents.

"What does that even mean?" Danny cried, gripping the bars of the cage. But before Deadpool could answer, there was a loud crash. The whole building shook, and for a moment Danny thought the ceiling was going to collapse. But it stayed intact.

"Who are you guys?" he asked the newcomers.

"She-Hulk," the one who made the crash said. The orange lady hopped off of her back and walked over, picking the lock with one of her claws. "That's Tigra."

"Okay?" Danny said, confusion taking over. Tigra got the lock done in just a few seconds and the door popped open, letting Danny walk through with somewhat ease. Everything still hurt, and he didn't know if he could take on his parents. But now, with these new superheros, they'd probably just turn tale and run like the last time they messed with Danny.

"Back off, guys," he told the Fentons bravely.

"We're not afraid of your little super friends, Danny," his mother said. She-Hulk took a step towards them, towering over even Jack, giving them a glare.

"You should be," she snarled. "I have a question for you two. Have you ever faced a Hulk before?"

Danny has. And he's surprised he's lived to tell the tale. But where did this Hulk come from?

"Stand back," Jack said in a dangerously low tone. "We will fire."

"Give me a reason to tear into you," Tigra spat. Jack pulled out an ecto gun and fired. Tigra dodged, and it grazed Danny's leg. There were more shots, and Danny stared, horrified at Deadpool. He hadn't even flinched as the blasts burned his skin. In fact, he still seem unconcerned. He was looking at his nails with boredom even though he had gloves on.

While Jack and Maddie were getting over their initial shock at watching Deadpool's insides knit themselves back together, She-Hulk took the gun, bent it in half, and knocked Jack and Maddie's heads together, eliminating the threat that was his parents.

"Who are you guys?" Danny asked again, still a bit in awe.

"Friend of a friend," She-Hulk replied. "My cousin saw a spike in your heart rate, said it could be something bad. We were in the area."

"And your cousin is...?" Danny trailed off. Tigra laughed.

"What, it isn't obvious?"

"Since when does Bruce have a cousin?" Danny wondered aloud.

"Since when do your parents want to kill you?" Deadpool asked. "Last time we met they didn't even know."

"It's a long story," Danny smiled. He took the bandages that Tigra offered and wrapped his leg up. He should still be able to fly until he was able to get Bruce or something to patch up his leg properly. "How did you get up here?"

"She threw me," Deadpool jabbed a thumb at She-Hulk who just shrugged.

"It was kind of...Fun?" She said. Danny couldn't stop the laugh from escaping him, and soon they were all laughing.

"Can you get home alright?" Tigra asked.

"Yeah, I just have to find my dog first."

"Your dog?" Deadpool asked.

"Yeah he's-Cujo, get off of She-Hulk!" Danny yelled. He hadn't even realized Cujo was back, and now he was wagging his tail, the ball they had been playing with lodged in his mouth.

"You have a green dog?"

Danny picked him up and shrugged, petting his ghost pet lovingly. "Yeah. I mean, he's cute and if he likes you he's completely harmless."

"And if he doesn't like you?" Tigra asked, glaring at Cujo.

"He gets...Bigger. Like Bruce turning into the Hulk."

"Huh," She-Hulk said, placing a hand on her hip. "Well, we'll take care of these guys. When you get back tell Bruce to call me, yeah?"

Danny smiled and nodded before hovering a few feet, letting his legs turn into a wispy tail.

"Thanks for the help, guys!" He saluted them before flying off back to the Tower. She-Hulk turned to Deadpool.

"Why  _ are  _ you here anyway?" She asked. Deadpool just shrugged.

"Beats me, but I'm leaving. Places to see, people to kill, you know how it is. Hey, would you mind throwing me again?" She-Hulk glared at him, but sighed and nodded.

"Fine. Buckle up."

* * *

 

Sorry it doesn't have Ghost Rider, but I don't really know enough of his character to do him justice. But I hope you enjoy it!


	60. In the Grave part 2

Peter had quickly grown to learn that he Avenger's idea of a field trip wasn't really a  _ field trip  _ so much as it was a mission but with a little more sight seeing. Amity Park had been thought to be just one big tourist trap, but it was so much more than that. Despite the small town, the buildings reached new heights and friendly faces everywhere they turned. 

"Do you think any of these guys have ever actually seen Phantom?" Peter asked Steve, who was looking at some brochures with pictures of Phantom fighting some dragon. He handed it to Peter.

"Either that or it's photo shopped." He turned to the lady behind the desk, giving her that old Brooklyn smile. "Excuse me, Ma'am," he said, "But can you tell us where we can find this Phantom character?"

"Oh, nobody knows how to contact him," the lady said, swishing her red hair being her shoulder. "But, if you really want to know more about ghosts then you need to talk to the Fentons. They're the local experts around these parts."

"And how might we find them?"

"Oh, the Fentons? You can't miss them. They own a place called Fentonworks not to far from here."

Steve nodded and thanked her, taking the brochure with him as he pulled Peter along.

Thanks to them both being born and bred New Yorkers, the walking really didn't bother them. It was more than bitter October wind that nipped at their skin that caused the irritation. Peter pulled his jacket closer, and Steve zipped his up.

On the way to the Fenton's home they ran into a group of kids laying heroes and villains, smiling at how one boy called dibs on Phantom while another called on Widow. Oh, Natasha would get a kick out of that.

"What do you think she meant by we can't miss it?" Peter asked. Steve looked up from the kids and looked at Peter, then ahead.

"Probably that," he pointed ahead, and Peter looked at the building. Then looked at the top of it, and understood perfectly.

"Is that a...UFO?"

"Maybe? Nowadays it feels like everything is."

It only took a couple of short minutes to walk the rest of the distance. Peter knocked and stepped aside, a signal that he was going to let Steve do the talking.

"Who are you?" A red headed girl with a blue head band asked.

"Oh, I'm Steve, and this is my cousin, Peter. We were just wondering if the Fentons are home?" The girl sighed and looked back into the house.

"Mom! Dad! Some tourists are here to see you!" She let them in and led them to the couch, offering them something to drink. When they declined she went to the kitchen anyway.

Peter had been in new houses plenty of times before, but this was something else. It was nice and the TV was cute, but he had a nagging sense in the back of his head that all is not what it seems to be here. However, before he could tell Steve the door burst open and then was quickly slammed again by the black haired kid that had run through. He pulled back the curtains just a tiny bit and sighed in relief before turning back around and coming to a dead stop, staring at them with wide eyes.

"Uh, who are you?" He asked, dropping his backpack down.

_ And I was wondering how him and the girl were related,  _ Peter thought with a smile. Steve answered for him once again.

"I'm Steve, this is my cousin, Peter. We're tourists and had a couple of the questions about the ghosts in the town and that other guy-Peter what's his name? Phantom?"

Peter couldn't tell if Steve was joking or not, but it certainly did the trick. The boy's face had scrunched up when they asked about the ghosts, but when they had mentioned Phantom that all seemed to change. He walked over and sat in the chair next to the couch.

"Well, what do you want to know?" He asked. "Oh, and the name's Danny, by the way." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, probably out of habit, Steve observed, and started bouncing his leg up and down like he couldn't sit still.

"Do you think Phantom is a good guy?" Peter asked. He had only met the ghost kid once, and yeah, he had helped them, but that doesn't mean he was on their side all the way. He'd seen enough horror movies to be suspicious.

"Totally. I mean, my parents don't really think so, but they're ghost hunters. You can't win them all if you're, you know, a ghost."

"But what about the thing with the mayor and the bank robberies?" Steve asked. Peter looked at him, trying to hide his shock. Why hadn't Steve told him about that on the way over?

"Well, with the mayor that's kind of weird. We were in the middle of a ghost invasion and one of them overshadowed-it's a fancy way to say possession-the mayor and made it look like Phantom was dragging him away. And with the bank robberies there was this circus freak who called himself Freakshow. He had this scepter thing that could control ghosts, no matter how powerful. He made Phantom and others steal for him and stuff."

"You seem to have a lot of experience with Phantom," Steve's voice was level, but Peter saw the way his fingers twitched, like he knew something else was going on. So Peter wasn't the only one feeling that way.

"Danny, you're home early," a red headed woman in a blue jumpsuit said. Danny just shrugged.

"Tucker and Sam got paired on a science project together so they're off working on that."

"Well what about you, sweetie?"

"Ugh, I got paired with Dash."

"Hey, Mads, who are these guys?" A deep voice boomed, and a moment later there was a large man in an orange jumpsuit with his hand on his wife's shoulder. Behind the parents, the older child rolled her eyes.

"Steve and Peter, the guests who wanted to know about ghosts? Honestly dad, you need to start writing stuff down." It sounded rude but the comment was full of love as she pushed past her parents and went upstairs. Danny got up too.

"I, uh, have to start on that project," he said, not meeting anybody' eyes before heading up himself. Steve and Peter looked after them with curiosity.

"So, you wanted to know about ghosts?" Maddie asked sweetly.

Saying yes was probably the biggest mistake of their lives.

* * *

 

"Dude, we wasted a whole day with them," Peter said once he was sure they had walked far enough to not be heard by the Fentons.

"But we know more about what we may have to fight," Steve assured.

"I just want to see Phantom again," Peter said.

It was as if there was some higher power took pity on him and answered his calls, because if it weren't for Steve pulling Peter back at the last minute he would have collided with the black and white blur that was Phantom. The ghost boy groaned and stood up, brushing off his suit.

"Sorry about that," he told them. His voice was tinged with an echo, but Steve and Peter both thought it was familiar. Phantom looked up at their faces, and something like recognition flashed in his eyes before he saluted and took off again, fighting some sort of giant green snake ghost.

"Should we help him?" Peter asked. Steve shook his head.

"No, let's see what he can really do."

They watched as the hero flew this way and that, the serpent following him, not realizing what Phantom was doing. Within a few short minutes the snake was tied up in a knot and sucked into the thermos Phantom had been carrying the night he had met the Avengers. Then he flew away.

"Hey, isn't that that way too..." Peter started.

"Come on, we better follow," Steve said, breaking out into a run. "Put the suit on."

They ran, Peter quickly ducking into an ally and taking off his civilian clothes, revealing his Spider-Man costume underneath. He quickly put on the mask and swung himself around the corner, watching as Phantom flew into the Fenton home.

"Cap, I'm going after him!" He called. Steve from below shouted something as he took off his jacket, His shield had been hiding underneath it. Spider-Man continued with the mission.

He was thankful that he had such a good memory, because there were a lot of windows. If he hadn't seen Phantom fly though he would have never found the right one. He stopped a few windows down and climbed up, only to see Phantom freaking out, shoving things under the bed and things in the closet before a bright light overtook the whole room and left...Danny?

Spider-Man easily opened the window and climbed through. Luckily Danny was too distracted to notice as Spidey slowly climbed onto the ceiling and watched as he hid his comic books and NASA ships and green bandages and weapons that kind of looked like they went with the thermos. Which he was hiding in his back pack.

"You should really make a system for this," Spidey said. Danny's head snapped up, surprised to see Spider-Man there.

"Spidey?" He asked in disbelief.

"And you're Phantom. Dude when were you going to tell us you were  _ alive?" _

"Shh, keep your voice down," he hissed. "My parents don't know, and if they id they would kill me! Again!"

"How about you give me some answers then?" Spider-Man dropped his voice to a harsh whisper as he lowered himself from the ceiling.

I'm only  _ half  _ ghost, dude. When the accident happened it fused ectoplasm with my DNA and I got these cool ghost powers."

"So you're just a kid? Not some immortal entity out to rule the world?" Spidey asked.

"Dude, seriously? No, I'm like, fifteen."

"Hey, me too!" Spidey said excitedly, momentarily forgetting that he was in costume. Danny narrowed his eyes, his head turning to the side.

"Peter?"

"Who's P-"

"-Then that makes Steve Captain America!" Danny's eyes grew big and his smile wide as he shoved his head out the window, looking around before looking down, only to see Cap scaling  _ his fucking wall.  _ Oh, this was just too good.

"Dude!" He whispered to his childhood hero.

"Where's Phantom?" Steve asked. Spider-Man pointed to Danny, who actually looked a little sheepish.

"Hiya," he said. Steve gave Spider-Man a sort of look, silently asking for answers.

"He's only half ghost apparently," Spidey answered. "And fifteen. Not five hundred."

"You guys thought I was five hundred?"

"Well, if he's just a kid we don't need to be here anymore," Steve said, turning back to go through the window again.

"Wait-what?" Danny asked.

"You're just a kid, and you live all the way in Amity. We can't take you on missions," Steve said, half way out of the window.

"But if the world is in danger of another alien invasion you'll call me, right?"

"Goodbye, Danny," Steve said. Spider-Man put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"We'll totally call you, dude." Danny grinned.

"Sweet."


	61. Venom part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: could you do something with Danny meeting Carnage or Toxin?

"Who is this guy?!" Danny yelled at Spider-Man, gripping the top and bottom jaws of the slimey red creature trying to eat him. He somehow managed to get his knees up and kick the thing away before flying back up into the air where Spider-Man was chilling on a building.

"I think that's Carnage," Spidey said, voice tight with worry.

"Carnage?" Danny asked, quickly turning Spider-Man intangible as to avoid an attack.

"Venom's son," he answered, pulling Danny over by his shoulders.

"Since when does he have a son?"

"I don't know, but we need to-argh!"

Danny watched in horror as his favorite wall crawler's side was sliced.

"Spider!" Danny called, flying over right before he fell off of the wall. He quickly phased him inside of the building and phased himself back out to face the monster head on.

"You're gonna pay for that," Danny snarled, firing up some ectoblasts. He fought the creature, wanting so badly to hit it, but ever single one of his ectoblasts passed right through due to Carnage moving his form out of the way without ever really having to dodge it. Danny moved to more ice based attacks.

The temperature dropped drastically as he pulled at his core, causing ice to travel along the road and locking Carnage in place. He could see his own breathe now, and he was pretty sure that if it got any colder it would start snowing.

The ice traveled up Carnage's legs and forced itself inside so it wouldn't be able to just leave. Carnage screeched in pain as the ice kept crawling. It didn't stop until Carnage was completely encased in it. Danny flew back to Spider-Man, who was more or less going to live.

"Hey, you good?" Danny asked, worried. It looked like Spidey had lost a lot of blood, and Danny wasn't to keen on losing a friend tonight.

"Yeah," Spidey managed to grunt out. "C-Carnage?"

"Ghost ice. He won't be able to break it unless I want it broken."

"Cool..."

"Shut up," Danny grinned and picked his friend up before flying him to Bruce so he could get medical attention.

When he returned, Carnage was still thee, forever trapped within his ice. There was no way it was going to break or melt unless he wanted it to. That being said, he was the only one who could get Carnage to a proper holding cell. He swiftly cut him out of the street and flew him to the Helicarrier, silently putting him in one of the cells made for Venom before melting him, making the creature screech at him. He just gave it a cheeky wave before sinking through the floor.

If he had known ice worked against them he would have used it a hell of a lot sooner that's for sure.


	62. Jack Frost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Ice danny au meets avengers if your still doing requests?

When Steve woke up that morning, he was excited, glad to spend another day in the July heat. However, it melted away when he looked out the window, only to see snow and ice everywhere.

In July.

He sighed and rubbed he sleepiness out of his face. With the strange weather there was no way he was gonna be able to go for a run.

He looked out the window and down to the street where he saw groups of men working to break the ice and move the snow so they could safely drive, but instead of the ice breaking, it was the tools.

Steve quickly changed into his uniform, grabbing his shield on the way out the door.

"Jarvis, he said sternly as he headed to the elevator to go to the debriefing room. "Wake everyone up, we have a meeting. How cold is it outside?"

_ "Precisely 27 degrees Fahrenheit, all coming from a power source that I believe to be above the Empire State Building. Currently, 67% of New York is experiencing this weather." _

By the time he made it to the debriefing room, a perfect looking Natasha, a tired Sam, and a just-rolled-out-of-bed-three-minute-ago Clint were there.

"What's happening, Steve?" Sam asked, stifling a yawn. He walked over to the large screen, and Jarvis pulled up several pictures of New York, and a satellite image that showed over half of it being covered with the winter weather.

"Someone or something is covering the city with ice and snow, and is centered over the Empire State Building. We have to take it out and see who's really behind this."

Stark had done wonders with his suit, adding a special heating component in case they ever had to do any missions in weather like this. In fact, he had fitted the whole team with winter gear. Steve pressed the star on his chest, and he watched with amazement as the blue turned to white. He could feel the humming of the suit as it changed and heated up from the inside out. He smiled and turned to the team.

"Suit up."

Clint wasn't to happy about wearing sleeves, but he was even more unhappy to be outside, flying through the air to see what the hell was causing this. He was ready to swim and chill with Natasha, but  _ no.  _ Instead he had to go out and fight crime and save the world. How overrated.

He grunted as he landed on another building, rolling into it so he wouldn't hurt himself. He was able to see a large blue light near the very top of the building, but only barely. It seemed that the closer he got, the harsher everything became. It was colder, and there was more ice and harsher winds than when he was at the tower.

"I see him," he placed a hand on his ear where his com link was, having to yell to be heard over the wind. "West side, big glowy thing!"

_ "Copy that, coming to get you," _ Sam told him. He looked behind him to see a dark figure coming at him, and he held out his hand. Sam took it and lifted him into the air.

"My arrows won't be able to do much with wind like this!" He told his bird bro.

"I'll get you in closer. Maybe it's an eye of the storm type thing!" Sam replied, grunting as the wind knocked him slightly off course. His wings were working overtime, but Clint had to give Stark credit. His heating systems really did work.

Eventually they got close enough, and it didn't calm down like Sam had suggested. However, when Clint threw himself at whatever it was, everything stopped. The wind and snowing and hail had ceased and it was suddenly all too quiet, but Clint couldn't focus on that. He had to focus on the  _ kid  _ with blue skin and red eyes, looking like he's in a goddamn trance. He shook the kid, yelling at him for a response, but none came.

Clint had to let go of the kid. The weather was the freaking Hawaii compared to how cold the kid was. He was the one causing it, but there as something about it that made Clint wonder.

"Oh, little Phantom," he heard a voice leer. He looked over to see a sort of sickly grey skinned man with a long black trench coat and some sort of weird red scepter in his hand. He gave Clint a gross, yellow smile and snarled.

"Kill him."

Immediately there was a change. Clint, who had been on top of Phantom, was now hanging in the air, grasping at the hand round his throat, threatening to block his airways with ice. He could already feel it.

"Kid," he grunted, gasping for air. "Phantom...S...Stop..." But it was no use. The hand tightened around his neck, and the boy, even though small, had the grip that reminded Clint of Hulk when Clint had taken the last cookie from him.

Suddenly he was falling, but he managed to catch onto the edge of the building, grippping his sore throat and gasping for air. With Steve's help he was able to get back onto safe ground, lying there for a minute before sitting up again. The bad guy was unconscious at Natasha's feet, a broken scepter in her hand. The kid was clutching his head, eyes squeezed shut as he stumbled for a moment. He opened his eyes, and instead of the terrifying red they were an ice blue.

"Where am I?" He asked. "Who are you?"

"We'll answer your questions, but first you have to get rid of all of this ice," Sam said, giving the boy an arm to lean on. He just nodded and slowly made his way tot eh edge near Clint before sucking in a deep breath. The wind had grown within seconds, and was as bad as before, but now seemed to have a reverse effect. The more wind there was, the brighter it got. The warmer the air became, and the more the ice melted away. Once Phantom was finished, it was perfect summer time weather again. He fell to his knees.

"Hey, kid, you okay?" Clint asked. The kid was breathing hard, and he wassure that if his temperature wasn't below zero he would be sweating.

"Yeah," he panted, "I'm good. I just need to get home."

"Where is home?" Steve asked. He wanted to put a hand on the boy;s shoulders, but he was to cold to touch.

"Amity Park."

"So you're ghost?" Natasha asked. She had read all about the ghosts of Amity and how it wasn't just a tourist trap. Phantom nodded.

"Yeah. Well, half ghost anyway." To answer their unspoken questions he closed his eyes and a bright light overtook them, changing snow hair to jet black, pupil-less ice blue eyes to a warm sky blue, and blue skin to sort of pale, normal skin. He was wearing a par of shorts and a tank top with flip flops, looking like he never cause any harm. He stuck out his hand with a smile.

"Name's Danny. Danny Fenton."


	63. Loudmouth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Submitted by: God of the Challenge: Danny overshadowing J. Jonah Jameson while he was on the air

There were a lot of things that Phantom and Spider-Man bonded over. For one, they're both still in high school and both have their bullies. But also bad jokes, pizza, and patrolling together. But their most favorite thing to do with each other was talk shit about the biggest loudmouth New York had to offer.

  1. Jonah Jameson had been a thorn in Spider-Man's side since day one, and now, years later, all he's done is buy a giant jumbo-tron in Times Square to yell at the public about how much he hates Spider-Man. He and Phantom would often sit on top of it and eat burritos, or anything with a lot of calories, really.



"Geez, dude, how can you take this stuff?" Phantom asked, moving his white hair out of his eyes. "I mean, don't you ever get sick of it?"

"All the time," Spidey replied, smiling under the mask. "But that's why I have you. I mean, the tabloids aren't exactly your best friend right now, either."

"Yeah, but no big time news paper has bought a jumbo-tron just to scream at me, either. It gets pretty annoying."

"Yeah, you're telling me. Do you think that the people down there would try and throw stuff at me if I dangled in front of the screen?" Phantom just laughed, sending chills up Spider-Man's spine. It was full of cheer but the echo it had to it made the laugh sound more eerie than it actually was. He loved Phantom like a brother but sometimes...Sometimes he was a bit freaked out.

Spider-Man yawned and stretched, noticing how Danny nodded in agreement.

"Don't you ever get tired?" Spider-Man asked. He had known the ghost boy for years and had never seen him exhausted unless he had just gotten done saving the world or something. But usually? He'd never even seen the boy yawn.

"Sometimes. I mean, I don't really have to sleep as often as normal people. Like you. You should go home, get some rest. Maybe ace that calculus test."

"What about you?"

"I'm gonna fail Spanish either way, there really isn't any hope for me. Now go, dude."

Spider-Man smiled at him, giving him a slap on the back before standing and walking down the jumbo-tron, trying to ignore the harsh lights and loud voice of Jameson yelling at him to get off of his nose. He just laughed and gave a two-fingered salute to Phantom before heading home for a good night's sleep.

A few months later Peter was waking up with a smile. It was a beautiful Saturday morning and he was finally a legal adult. It was definitely something to be excited about. He could get a tattoo if he wanted!

He quickly hopped out of bed, prepared to run downstairs and eat the breakfast Aunt May cooks for him every year on his birthday before he remembered he didn't have any pants on. He threw on yesterdays jeans and a t-shirt before heading down. His phone buzzed in his pocket.

_ From: Spooky _

_ Turn on your TV _

Peter, confused by the vague text, walked into the kitchen and turned it the TV on, giving his aunt a good morning as he did so. And what he saw-What he heard-was unbelievable.

_ "And now, onto other news,"  _ Jameson was saying. He looked down at his noted, his eyes flashing green for a split second. Most people would have brushed it off as a camera glitch, but Peter knew better. " _ A special thanks to Spider-Man for helping with the London Crisis yesterday, beating the bad guys into last week! And I am proud to say that he is and always will be New York's very own superhero! No high tech armor or advanced training for this young fellow! The Avengers certainly are lucky to have him! _

It was so surreal that Peter thought he was dreaming for a moment. J. Jonah Jameson, he ultimate Spider-Man hater, was praising him. He was yelling and looking angry and was turning a little red in the face but they were all good words. And all because of Phantom. His phone was buzzing again, and Aunt May gave him a look.

"You gonna answer that?" She asked.

"Oh-er, yeah." Peter pulled out his phone, taking a glance at Jameson again. He was grabbing his head, not knowing what he had just said. Before he could go on about haiting Spider-Man Peter turned the TV off and looked at the text.

_ From: Spooky _

_ Happy birthday, dude! _

"Something good?" Aunt May asked. Peter realized that he was grinning like an idiot.

"Yeah," he told her, "Something like that."

"Dude, I don't know how you did that, but that was amazing," Spider-Man told Phantom, laughing a little because he still couldn't believe that those words had come out of Jameson's mouth, voluntary or not. Phantom just shrugged and gave him a light shove.

"It's called overshadowing people. I'm a ghost, remember?" Phantom grinned at him, his green eyes full of joy and fun. It was an infectious feeling. "And, even though that was great, here's your real present." Danny handed him a red package with a neat blue bow on top. Very subtle.

He tore open the package carefully and almost dropped it from laughing to hard.

"Dude, you got me an ant farm? Seriously?" he laughed. Phantom was laughing right along side with him, but this time the echo that came from his chest didn't creep Spider-Man out. In fact, it was welcomed.

"It was S-er...My friend's idea to get you something bug related. She likes presents like that."

"What did she get you for your birthday?" Spidey asked.

"A  _ Ghostbusters _ poster."

Spider-Man fell into another fit of giggles at Phantom's serious expression, knowing that he was dead serious.

"Ah, that's great," Spider-Man said, reaching his hand under his mask to wipe away a tear. Danny nodded and sighed, content. Then he turned to Spidey.

"Wanna go get some pizza?"

"Do you even have to ask?

 


	64. Bored

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumble prompt: Bamf! Ghost king au where Danny meets thread Avengers

Danny had always figured that he was to busy to ever go back to the mortal world. When he died for good and became a full ghost, he had immediately been made king and schooled in the art of Ghost Zone politics. And that had been…God, that had been such a long time ago. Occasionally his core would ache, and there wasn't really anything he could do about it. His obsession was to protect, but all of the ghosts stayed In the Zone for the most part. Ever since he had died for good they never felt the need to haunt the real world. And because he was king now, they didn't cause much trouble. Any trouble that was caused was either taken care of by Walker, or it was the Observants on the receiving end of a prank. His obsession wasn't getting the attention it needed, and it was finally starting to take a physical toll on his body.

He sagged in his throne, the armor he wore biting into his skin in a few places, but he didn't bother moving. He had long ago gotten used to the feeling. His eyes wandered to the large walls of Phantom's Keep, eyes raking over the paintings that Princess Dora had her artists make. They were amazing, and highly detailed, if a bit over-dramatic. Some were from when he was a halfa, standing tall and proud. Some were him defeating the old king, Pariah Dark. Some of them were more recent, showing off his broad shoulders. In those ones his face was always young, because he had died young the second time, but somehow they always managed to capture his blazing green eyes just right. Old and tired.

If he was bored like this for more than an eternity he could see why pariah lost his marbles.

He sighed, glancing over to his faithful servant. When Fright Knight had first started taking orders from Danny it had been…Strange. He wasn't used to ordering his old enemies around and them actually listening. Fright knight not only listening, he went above and beyond for Danny. He remembered Clockwork mentioning that serving the king, no matter who the king was, was the Knight's obsession. Pariah had taken full advantage of that.

Danny sighed again, tapped his fingers on his thigh a couple of times, and stood up.

"Fright Knight," he said in a commanding voice. "I'm going to the Mortal World. Watch over the castle."

"As you wish, my lord," the faithful servant replied.

Danny couldn't give an answer as to why he wanted to go to the mortal world. Maybe he missed it? Maybe he missed people? Either way, the feeling in his gut felt right when he said it. Danny had always been one to go off of his instincts.

Without saying anything else, he held out his hand and opened a portal.

* * *

 

"We're under heavy fire!" Came Captain America's voice as he barreled through the enemies. Hawkeye rolled his eyes. Of course they were under fire, they were always under fire. It's not like the old man has to point it out every fucking time.

He knocked few arrows, quickly letting them fly through the air, not bothering to make sure they hit their mark. He knew that they did if the gurgling was anything to go by.

He quickly reached back to get more, and a pit in his stomach grew when all he got as air.

"Aww, arrows," he whined. That's okay, though. He was Hawkeye. He was good at improvising. Hell, he did so much that at this point he was a fucking expert at it. He heard the guns stop.

He let out a huff before spinning around, ready to fight fire with a bow, but he stopped short. Because standing right in front of him was a floating, glowing man. He had broad shoulders and a tall frame that was covered in bits of armor. Around his shoulders was a white fur cloak, but it wasn't nearly as white as the dude's hair. Floating above his head was a crown coated in ice. He looked around, seemingly unphased by the commotion he had walked into. In fact, the guy almost looked bored.

"Who are you?" Hawkeye called to him. The words left his lips before he could stop and think that maybe this guy wasn't on his side.

The figure turned around, and a chill went down Clint's spine because of how freaking green they were. But it wasn't any kind of green he had seen. It was a toxic color, like the kind you find in those barrels full of chemical waste in the movies. Like acid. It was unnerving.

"Where am I?" He asked. And holy shit. On top of his voice being a deep baritone, it also had a sort of echo to it, like a tinging Clint really couldn't place his finger on. For a split second he wondered if it was the being, or if it was just his hearing aids acting up.

"Uh," Clint said. Perfect. Very smart. The being cocked his head tot he side, amused. It was a very human thing to do, and Clint didn't know if it was because he looked human but man it was so obvious that he wasn't. Nobody had eyes like that. Nobody glowed like that. And he was sure as hell nobody hovered like him. It wasn't much but it was enough to catch Clint's attention.

"East Berlin," somebody answered behind him. He whirled around, only to see Sam Wilson, holding two guns up. One was pointed at the figure, and the other was pointed at the Hydra goons on the other side of the miniature No-Man's land, staring in awe at the glowing man. "Who are you?"

"My apologies," the stranger said, completely unconcerned a the gun pointed his way. "I do suppose introductions are a polite thing to do. My name is Phantom."

Phantom? Like-as in a ghost? Does that mean he's a ghost? Why would a ghost name himself Ghost? When did ghosts start being more than fiction?

"Are you a good guy or a bad guy?" Clint asked. If he was bad then they were in trouble, because he could practically feel the power coming off of this Phantom character. If he was good then maybe he could help them with the whole 'let's take down this hydra base in case we find out more information on Steve's long lost friend, Bucky' situation. Namely getting past security.

"Good, I guess," he shrugged. "And you?"

"We're the superheroes, they're the bad guys!" Sam called to him, gesturing with his pistols. Phantom nodded before turning around to the Hydra army He floated forward, and stopped before turning his head back.

"You might want to duck," he warned. And despite wanting to see how this guy would totally mess up those other guys, he did as he was told. He crouched back down behind his little makeshift shield, glad it was big enough for two.

They waited patiently, listening to the noises of screams and some other scraping noise. He heard explosions and gun fire. For some reason, Clint had the odd urge of twiddling his thumbs, but when the fighting stopped the thought left his mind as soon as it had come.

Instead of standing up, he and Sam just kind of peaked their heads over the top of their tiny barrier, eyes widening in surprise at the scene.

Ice coated the ground as well as turning some of the Hydra guys into popsicles. Other were bleeding, their suits deteriorating and the smell of burnt flesh heavy in the air. The rest didn't have heads.

"Woah," Sam said behind him. Sometime during their starring Cap, Tony, Natasha, and Thor had dropped behind them, ogling at the mess like them.

"What the hell?" Tony asked, his mask flicking up so hey could see his expression. It was a little bit of amazement, a little bit of fear. Clint glanced at the rest of the team. Natasha's face gave nothing away but the hesitation in her hands showed that she was thinking they were on thin ice. Steve's jaw was set and his eyes were hard, and he couldn't tell if it was because of Phantom or because if the death grip Thor has on his shoulder, holding on so tight his knuckles were white. His eyes were huge, starring at the ghost (?) Intently.

"Do mine own eyes deceive me?" He whispered, almost to himself. Nobody but Clint seemed to hear though, and that in and of itself was ironic.

"Most of them are alive," Phantom said, turning back around to them. The white of his armor was stained red, and something told Clint that none of it was his. In fact, this guy didn't have a single scratch on him. Like what he had just done was the easiest thing in the world.

"How did you know we were the good guys?" Sam asked. "I mean, you just kind of took our word for it."

"Well," Phantom gave him a smile. He was young - or at least looked that way - but his eyes were old and weary, kind of like Steve's. Like he had seen to much shit. "I can see your auras. You are all good in your own way, but them? Their auras are dark, vengeful. And I can hear your heart beat. You were telling the truth when you said you were good."

"My liege," Thor stood up, walked forward, and actually kneeled before Phantom. The only person they had ever seen Thor kneel to was Odin, so this was a surprise.

"Rise, Odinson. There is no need for such formalities in this mortal world." When Danny had heard of Norse gods being real, he had wanted to laugh in Clockwork's face. Now though? He had seen enough proof that they existed, and now he actually had  _ the _ Thor bowing, practically kissing the ground he floated above. Danny almost didn't feel worthy.

Thor did as he was told, standing up straighter than ever, maybe trying a little to hard to impress Phantom. But it's not every day you meet the slayer of Pariah Dark. Because if this man the spirits of Asgard can sleep in peace.

"Who are you?" Tony asked, walking forward. Thor glared at him, wondering why he would show a king such disrespect. But Phantom didn't seem to mind at all.

"Nice suit, dude," he said, staring at it in awe. "Did you make it?" Tony took notice of how he avoided the question, but he couldn't help but puff out his chest just a little. Apparently this guy was new to the 21st century.

"Yeah, I did," he answered. "Now are you gonna tell us who you are now?"

"Man of Iron," Thor spoke, and even though it was an introduction, there was a bit of warning in his voice. Tony decided that he was going to ignore it. If this guy wanted them dead he would have done it already. "This is Phantom, King of the Ghosts. I advise you to show more respect."

King of ghosts? Was Thor serious? Ghosts aren't real. Or maybe Tony had just grown up way to fast. But either way this guy's identity was a bit of a stretch.

"It's fine, Thor, " Phantom said, placing a hand on Thor's shoulder. The blonde looked over at him.

"I mean no disrespect when I ask, my king, but why have you left the Ghost Realm?"

"My obsession is to protect, but in the Ghost Zone there is nobody to protect. So I thought I would…Stretch my legs. It had been a while since I've been here, after all."

"What do you mean?" Tony asked. It was a stupid question considering his title, but a guy couldn't be too skeptical, could he?

"I died here, on Earth, many years ago. I haven't been to the mortal realm in so long. I almost forgot what it was like."

A smile crept up on the ghost's lips, and they all saw how it didn't quite reach his eyes. Steve briefly wondered how many people that smile has fooled. The shape of his mouth provided a sense of happiness, but inside it was a different story. Steve could somewhat relate to that. Because pretending to be okay, and lying to yourself that you're fine, was a hell of a lot easier than facing what's bothering you and making you not fine.

He has seen a lot of shit. He's probably been bored out of his mind for centuries. His obsession, Steve guessed, is what keeps a ghost going, but if there's nobody to protect then what's the point of even simply being? He would have kept analyzing his facial features if it weren't for those acid eyes being trained on him. The small smile grew to a big, toothy grin.

"You're Captain America! Man, I grew up reading about you!"

That threw them all for a loop. He was dead, yeah, and had apparently been King for fora while now, so how did he grow up reading comic books about Cap?

"How…?" The words died on Steve's lips.

"When did you die?" It was the first time Natasha had spoken. Her eyes were narrowed but she was..Intrigued to say the least.

"The first time was in the early two thousands, and the second time was when I turned 26? I've been stuck like this ever since. But time in the Ghost Zone is weird. It's like a sort of limbo where it doesn't really exist, so I could be living in the Zone for centuries and come back and only a few minutes have passed. It's really confusing, honestly."

"Wat do you mean the first time? How do you die twice?" Clint asked.

"Well, when I died the first time I became a halfa - half ghost, half human. When my human side died, I became a full ghost."

"Weird."

"Yeah, you're telling me. Anyway, I'm glad I could help. If you guys need help just give me a call or something. I sure there's a few pages of Latin around here somewhere."

None of them really wanted to know what that meant, but they waved their goodbyes nonetheless as he opened a swirling green portal and disappeared. Tony blinked a couple of times before sighing and turning to Thor, still trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened.

"So…Ghosts, huh?"

 


	65. Bored part 2

The humans were…Interesting, to say the least. Every single one of them. After his little trip to the mortal plain he decided he was going to keep an eye on them, just in case. And he had Clockwork's help in looking back at what they had previously done, like saving New York from aliens. Which was pretty rad.

He knew how Stark buried himself in his work, ignoring his feelings because it was easier to detach and pretend like you don't care when you know deep down you probably care to much.

He saw how the good Captain would wake up in a cold sweat, shouting for this Bucky person, or a Peggy. Then he would realize where he was, eyes sparking with realization, and stay awake the rest of the night. Nobody knew because of the soundproof walls and Steve's ability to lie his ass off like it was as easy as breathing.

He observed how Doctor Banner would fiddle nervously, always wringing his hands as if anticipating something bad. He flinched at every sudden noise and would shy away from contact more often then not. But he had more heart than probably any of the others. All he wanted to do was good, but sometimes things got a little out of hand.

He noted how Natasha was quiet as a mouse though everyone was aware she was the predator, not prey. He knew she kept an assortment of hidden weapons on her person, even if she was just relaxing in her pajamas. It gave her a sense of comfort. The Tower and Avengers did to, but only to a degree. The Widow did not like being caught off guard. And after Red Room, Danny knew she never would be.

Then came her partner I'm crime. The archer. Clint was definitely a wonder, chugging down an entire pot of coffee straight from the pot and able to stomach moldy pizza if he really needed to. His aim was like nothing Danny had ever seen, and yet he didn't even seem to care. But Danny saw through that. Clint cared about being the best, about being worthy to the Avengers if nothing else. Because if he ever missed he would be just another guy with a bow and arrow. He would just put in his purple hearing aids and get on with his life, because pretending you were stupid was simpler than his life, and sometimes he really just needed simple.

Thor was probably the hardest to read. Even harder than Natasha. A lot of that came from the fact that Thor was immortal and had a lot of baggage. He blamed himself for Loki's fate and his mother's death. He blames himself for the death of the mortals that fell when the Chitari attacked. He decided to use those, however, to give his friends-his second family-advice. If anything it was to prevent them from making the same foolish mistakes he had. Too many lives have been taken because of him. To many innocent lives. Most people would never know though. The never looked past the kindness in his eyes to see the guilty weight bearing down on him.

Then there was probably the most normal person out of the lot. He had no powers or any special skills except for being able to control a giant pair of wings with ease. But he had these eyes that spoke volumes without him even having to open his mouth. His body language said soldier. It said retired. But his heart spoke a tale of sadness, of exhaustion. A type of haunting that stayed with a veteran for the rest of their lives. He saw how Sam put headphones in on the Fourth of July, and he saw the way he rarely took his own advice. His loyalty was what set him apart from the others.

Its was strange how… Alike he was with each and every one of them. Uncanny, really, like bits and pieces of his personality made seven other super heroes, half of which didn't have powers. His chest tightened and he mindlessly rubbed at the spot above his core, feeling the cold through his gloves. He smiled to himself at the thought of his last visit to the mortal plain. He loved the feeling of fulfillment, like everything was right in the universe. His head had cleared and he had felt the nostalgia of an adrenaline rush and excitement. The kind that was nowhere to be seen in the Ghost Zone.

Perhaps it was time for another trip

* * *

It wasn't hard to find the Tower by any means. It was this big, ugly thing in the middle of New York with a giant letter A on it, practically asking the bad guys to come and destroy it. Subtly was definitely not their strong-suit , that's for sure. Though he wasn't particularly one to talk either. After all, when he was alive he had a UFO on his house and a neon sign telling everybody human and ghost where he lived. He wondered how much of it was left.

He landed gracefully on the launch pad Stark used, smiling at the breeze that was dramatically blowing his cape, like he was in a movie. It was a bright day with a few clouds here and there, making it seem like summer, but when Danny looked over to Central park he saw the orange in the leaves and the grass starting to die, just so it can be reborn again.

His small smile grew into a grin, though, when he heard a door open and small footsteps come his way. He turned to meet his favorite billionaire, Tony Stark himself.

"Hey, Spooky," Stark greeted, hands in his pockets. He looked relaxed, but is body language told Danny he was ready for a fight if the need be. "How you been?"

The King shrugged as he walked toward Stark, his green eyes scanning the building. "I've been bored out of my mind. Politics was definitely not my major in college, I'll tell you that."

Stark chuckled a bit, taking one hand out of his pocket and slapping Danny on the back with it before leading him inside.

"How does a brat like you become king of ghosts? I'll never understand that."

"Like anybody could resist my good looks," Phantom shot back with a laugh, gesturing to his face. Tony rolled his eyes at the spirit. He pushed the door open, and stepped inside, but before he could announce their new guest, Thor stood up. I giant grin was plastered on his face as he strode over, holding out his hand.

Tony watched as they didn't shake hands, but instead gripped each other's forearms for a moment before letting go. Phantom had on less armor this time, so now it was easy to see the muscles rippling under his clothes.

"Greetings, my king," Thor said with a smile. "Would you like to try a toasted pastry?"

"Anything but toast, dude," Phantom smiled back.

"You don't like toast?" Clint asked from across the room, trying to balance a tower of action figures on his knee. "Toast is amazing!"

Instead of responding, he followed Thor to the kitchen, where Sam and Steve were relaxing over a cup of coffee. There was another man with dirty brown hair and only one arm with huge bags under his eyes. He was very new. Phantom noticed how he tensed up when he walked into the room with Tony.

"Phantom!" Steve rushed, standing up so quickly that his chair almost fell back. Sam just rolled his eyes, and the new guy glared at him. Probably for disturbing the peace and quiet.

"Captain. Always a pleasure," Phantom smiled. He looked around the fully stocked kitchen as Thor grabbed a package of poptarts and put them in the toaster.

"You want to sit down with us?" Steve asked. Phantom shrugged.

"Yeah, sure."

Steve thought it was odd. He thought Phantom was odd. He was a king, and almost always formal, but when he wasn't he almost acted like Clint, with the 'dudes' and other modern day slang. He also apparently had the impeccable ability of making himself at home.

"So, what brings you to the land of the living, man?" Sam asked, taking a sip of his coffee. Phantom shrugged.

"Oh, you know. Bored out of my mind. And it's nice to see some old friends. Though, I don't think I've met you," he looked over at the silent figure, who was now looking like he'd rather be somewhere else. "I'm Phantom," he said, stretching out his hand. The ,man didn't take it. Instead, he muttered out a gruff, "Bucky." Phantom's eyes widened, and he got a big grin on his face.

The ringing of Tony's phone didn't disrupt the conversation a bit, but it did make Danny question his music choices as the billionaire left the room. He turned back to Steve.

"You mean like...Captain America's old war friend Bucky? Bucky Barnes?" He could barely contain his excitement. Sam made a mental note that the ghost was apparently oblivious to body language, because now Bucky was  _ really  _ looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. Hell, maybe even sitting on the couch with Barton. "Dude, that's so cool! It's such an honor!"

Steve was looking at Bucky now, unsure of how he would react, but he did one thing that only Steve ever was able to see.

Bucky smiled.

It was a tiny little thing, just a tilt of the corner of his lips, but it was enough. Anyone who could make Bucky smile was a friend in Steve's book.

"Damn it!" They heard Tony shout. He had been quietly murmuring to the person on the other line. It was strange how someone as energetic as Tony could make himself damn near invisible, but now everyone was starring at him as he walked back into the room. Phantom gave him a quizzical look.

"What's wrong?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Nothing. Just work stuff," Tony answered. He headed over to the bar and poured himself a generous glass of whiskey before downing it and sighing, almost lost in thought. His brow was furrowed and his hands were at his temple, trying to think.

"What happened?" Sam repeated Danny's question. Tony looked over at him, his lips in a thin line, like he was trying to decide whether or not he should tell the former pararescue. He sighed again.

"Dalv co. Is buying out small portions of Stark. With the money they can get from them they could buy me out."

Tony sagged, seeming more tired than a man his age should be, but Danny perked up. Not happily, no, but because he recognized the name. God it had been so long since he's heard it he almost forgot about it completely.

"...Did you say...Dalv?" Danny asked him. His voice took on a more serious tone. "Run by Vlad Masters?"

Tony looked at him partly in surprise and partly something else Danny wasn't able to identify. But the sudden mood change wasn't promising.

"Er...Yeah. Snobby rich guy with a football obsession. Every time we end up in the same room together I hear him complain about how the Packers won't be sold to him."

"Even in death he still pisses me off," Danny muttered.

"What? What does that mean?" Steve asked.

"Vlad was an old college friend of my parents, ended up getting ghost acne and with it he got ghost powers. He's a halfa." Danny explained.

"That would explain how he came out of nowhere with all that money," Tony said. "I've been trying to figure that one out for years."

"Yeah, he stole it. And now it looks like he's stealing you. But I know just the way to fix this." A smirk grew across Danny's face as he rubbed his hands together maniacally. "Who would like to go pay the old fruitloop a visit?

 


	66. Bored part 3

Danny looked around at the small group that had decided to join, all geared up and ready to go. There were more volunteers than Danny was expecting. When he had asked them who wanted to pay Vlad a visit to help Tony out, almost every hand in the room went up. Thor had just shrugged ad left the room with his poptarts, not wanting to get involved with how mortal businesses work. But Steve had immediately volunteered, and because he did Sam ad Bucky joined in. When Bucky sighed and agreed to come along, Danny didn't miss the worried look on Steve's face, but he also noticed how Steve didn't protest. And then of course Tony was more than willing to fight for what was his. Danny could respect that.

The fastest way to get there was through a portal, but with Vlad's ghost proof mansion he could probably only get them to the fancy gates. When he told them this, Sam groaned.

"You mean we have to go through one of those gross portal things you shoot out of your hands?" He asked.

"Yeah. Relax, it's not like you'll be going to the Zone. Just to Vlad's mansion. You won't feel a thing," Danny said with a roll of his eyes. Bucky snickered as Sam groaned again, and the Falcon couldn't help but shoot him a glare. It had no heat behind it, though.

Danny held up his hand as it began to glow before focusing his ectoplasmic energy into the portal, imagining exactly where he wanted to be. The circle came out of nowhere, swirling beautifully with foreign shades of green. Danny smiled to himself before quickly turning to the others.

"After you," he said. They all hesitated for a moment, eyeing Phantom with a sort of worry, but in the end it was the great Iron Man who went first. Then it was Cap, Falcon, and finally Bucky, who hadn't said a word since he agreed to come along. He tested it out with his metal hand first before walking all the way through. Danny was right behind him, closing the portal behind him.

A part of him was happy to see such a familiar place, but a knot formed in his stomach. It was only familiar because Vlad had this-used to have-this obsession with making Danny his son. Danny couldn't help but briefly wonder if the cat was still kicking.

The mansion hadn't changed a bit on the outside. It was still the giant green lawn and tall silver gates and the red brick walls. Danny walked in front of them, his cape fluttering around his ankles. Vlad had to answer to his crimes, and Danny was more than willing to make him pay up, whether it was ghost related or not. You mess with Danny's friends then you get the full wrath of the ghost king.

"So, do we just knock?" Sam asked, picking up a rock and flicking it at Bucky. He was completely unfazed by the action. It must have been normal, then.

"Something like that," Danny grinned. He walked up to the lock, giving it a nice coat of ice before stepping back. He brought his knee up and kicked it as hard as he could. The gates opened with no problem, and they were now horribly dented. Oh, Danny had missed this.

"Looks like he's not home," Tony observed. "Should we come back later?"

"Nah, he'll show up. His sensors have already picked up ghost energy, so it's not like he already doesn't know I'm here."

"Wat about the rest of us," Bucky said. His gravely voice almost sounded worried, but his face remained completely void of emotion.

"I kind of have to agree with him on that one," Sam said. "If we weren't going for stealth then-"

"-You guys worry to much. I said he knew  _ I  _ was here. His equipment isn't going to pick up on you because it's to focused on me. Now come on, I know where his lab is."

They all shared a look as Danny turned and started floating up the long driveway and through the front door. He opened it for them, gesturing for them to enter.

The place was just as massive as Danny remembered, and he couldn't help the feeling of nostalgia of the first time he ever walked these halls, where he didn't have to worry about his parents' old college friend murdering him. Ah, good times.

He led them past the lobby and past the display cases filled with Packers shrines. They didn't stop until hey reached the den, where everything was coated in a very thin layer of dust. Danny eyed the giant painting of Vlad above the fireplace, his eyes boring into your soul. For a moment Danny thought they flashed red, but no. It must have been in his head. PTSD fro his years of fighting the older halfa.

"Grab onto me," he said. Iron Man took a shoulder, and Sam took the other. Steve and Bucky each took a hand, and Danny slowly brought them down. Somehow he thought holding four grown men up would be hard, but his ghost strength really paid off. It was almost effortless, really.

After maybe ten feet of dirt it opened up into this blinding white room with equipment everywhere, and old inventions that hadn't been touched in forever. Over on the far wall was the ghost portal, and on the long wall closer to the exit were several chambers that once held clones of Danny. He walked over and placed his hand on the broken on, thinking of the time he and Dani had kicked Vlad's butt when Dani was destabilizing. He let his hand slide down as he continued looking around.

Bucky watched as Phantom walked around like he knew the place. The way he looked at the chamber, the weapons, and especially the large doors off to the side with caution tape around the eight edges. What was that? And why was Phantom so chummy with this place? When had he had time to learn the terrain of Vlad Masters' home?

"I remember this," he said, picking up a small cube. He threw it to the ground, and it grew. The top of it had a large hole in it, enough to fit a head, but no more. "See, before I became a full ghost me and Vlad always fought. The whole arch nemesis type thing. He kidnapped me a lot, because I was just a scrawny teenager who had had my powers for a few months. He had had his since his college days though. He used to be a lot stronger than me."

"Why was he always kidnapping you?" Iron Man asked. The helmet gave a sort of ting to his voice.

"He had a major thing for my mom, who married my dad. But my dad was kind of an idiot sometimes. He was the one that caused Vlad to get ecto acne, and Vlad wanted him dead. He wanted to marry my mom and make me his apprentice, so I ended up down here a lot. It was awful. Now though, I almost miss it. I mean, not the whole fighting part, but the adrenaline and such. But I'm all ectoplasm now. It made my core feel good."

"Your core?" Steve couldn't help but ask. The boy looked so nostalgic, like he was stuck in the past where everything was right. Steve could relate to that more than he wished to admit.

"It's like a heart, but for ghosts. When I was a halfa is sat right next to my heart. It's als what gives me the ability to make ice. Different cores for different ghosts, depending on the obsession or how they died. Sometimes it's random. I think that's how I ended up with ice."

"So you weren't obsessed with the cold or anything, or died by ice?"

"No, not at all. I was actually obsessed with space. See, my parents had a portal just like this, except the on button was on the inside. It's what killed me the first time. A part of me feels like I should have gotten electricity powers. But when I died it gave me a new obsession."

"What was it?" It was Bucky that spoke up this time, eyeing Phantom warily. A look quickly flashed over his face, something to quick to read. If you blinked you would have missed it, but Bucky was searching for that reaction ever since they came down here. His shoulder was starting to itch.

"Something wrong?" Bucky asked. His voice still held no emotion, but he knew how to get into people's heads. He guessed ghosts weren't much different after all.

"No. But it-" Phantom sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, and Bucky couldn't help noticing how the ghost's hands wrung. "Don't ever ask a ghost what their obsession is," he said slowly. Steadily, like he was trying to choose his words carefully. Like if he didn't control his language he would blow up in their faces. "It's very offensive. It," he paused, opening his eyes and turning to him, "it's like asking you why you're alive. Why do you keep living? What is our purpose on Earth?"

That made the other heroes think for a moment. They could all see how it was offensive, ad how it could have gone way worse if Phantom didn't know how to control himself. After all, he had to. He had to keep up his image, even in front of his friends. But within a few moments he was back to normal. Or at least as normal as a ghost could be.

"It was protecting, by the way. I just-I could never stop myself from getting a cat out of a tree or running into a burning building, you know? It-Your core pulls at you. Going against your obsession could be catastrophic to your very being. I didn't know anything about that at the time, though. I just...Did. Hell, the media even coined this dumb name for me."

"What was it?" Sam asked, because now he had to know. Phantom chuckled.

"It was," his chuckles grew, and his shoulders were shaking from contained laughter, "It was Inviso-Bill! God, I used to hate that name so much! It was freaking genius!" He was laughing now, the kind where you can't stop, and you're bending over backwards. It echoed around the room, and as they watched this, Phantom looked twenty years younger, almost like a happy-go-lucky teen. They couldn't help but crack a couple of smiles.

However all of them instinctively got into their battle stances when a figure in white floated through the large octagon doors, rolling his eyes as Phantom laughed. He was so focused on the ghost king he didn't notice the few others.

"Daniel, don't you have a kingdom to be running?" The older ghost snarled. His fangs were bright against his pale blue skin and red eyes, almost matching the white suit he had on, with the long cape behind him. This guy seemed more mildly annoyed at Phantom's presence than anything. Phantom wiped a tear from his eye as his laughter died down, and he faced Vlad, getting serious now.

"What are you doing buying up Stark shit, dude?" He asked, leaning against the table.

"Nothing that involves a child like you, little badger. Besides, I don't think you're small mind can handle it."

"Well, knock it off, Fruitloop. Give it back to Stark," Phantom snapped at him. He got off the table and stood to his full height, which was few inches over the other man. 

Sam felt as though he was going to get whiplash from this guy's mood swings. One second he was laughing his ass off, the next he was deadly serious with a flaring aura. Vlad, however, just scoffed.

"And why should I? It's not like it involves you," Vlad sneered.

"Oh, but it does, Vlad." His voice boomed throughout the old chamber, and Tony was jut going to assume that that was his cue to make themselves known.

"Listen, Drac," he said, gaining the attention of Vlad. He bared his fangs at them. "I don't like it when people take my stuff. So why don't you just give it back, and we'll call it a day. and my boy Phantom here won't blow you to bits." As he talked he walked over, finally putting his elbow on Phantom's shoulder. Phantom smirked, his confidence growing as the others slowly came as well, surrounding Vlad from all sides.

"The great ghost king couldn't come by himself?" Vlad haunted. "He needs these second-rate heroes to come with him? How pitiful, really. When you were a halfa you were much more frightening."

"They came because they wanted to. You know good and well I would have gotten the Fright Knight to come if I needed backup."

Something shifted in Vlad's face. Barely, but Bucky caught it. His lips dropped, and there was a brief flash of fear that was gone as quick as it came. So apparently Fright Knight was a big deal. He glanced at Phantom, who seemed to have notice the change in Vlad's mood.

"Just one little call would all it take. Now, you don't want that, do you?" Phantom asked, a sickly sweet. Vlad growled at him, but after a few moments of consideration, gave in.

"Very well. But if I see your face in here again I won't hole back, King or not. Now get out."

Phantom smirked as he nodded, giving Vlad a lazy two-fingered salute as the others began to get behind Danny so he could take them back to the Tower. Before he flew up threw the ceiling, he grinned at Vlad.

"Well, Fruitloop," he said, "as always, it was a pleasure doing business with you."

And then they were gone.

It was a matter of minutes before they were walking back into the Tower's kitchen. The phone inside of Tony's armor rang, and it was quickly answered. Danny tuned it out though, knowing that it was good news about Stark's business. Judging from the grin on Tony's face when his face mask pulled back, he was right to assume everything went well.

"Thanks, kid," he said. Phantom just nodded at them with a smile, and Tony led him to the tbale where everyone else had sat back down.

"So," Tony said, a shit-eating grin on his face. "Daniel, huh? Makes you sound like an old man."

"Whatever,  _ Anthony." _

 


	67. Defend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Have you seen defenders yet? Could you do a crossover with it if/when you do? Its like my dream crossover but I cant write at all

It was supposed to be a normal night out with his new friends at the new Chinese place in Harlem not too far from Luke's place. Matt would have loved to enjoy it, but the universe always had a way of screwing him over.

The night was young when it went to shit, and he was hoping to get a few drinks in after this with the others, but  _ no.  _ They had more pressing matters to deal with.

None of them knew it was going to end up ruining their whole weekend.

It all started when the bell above the door chimed, signalling someone new was coming in. Within a few seconds everything sort of ust  _ shifted.  _ He felt Danny on his right tense up, and the way he shoveled more food into his mouth told Matt he was nervous about something. And Matt couldn't blame him.

It had gotten colder. Barely, but enough for someone like Matt to notice. It seemed to move though, with with newcomer that walked up to the counter. His footsteps were light, almost like he wasn't walking at all, and there was a sort of scent about him. Matt knew no normal nose would have ever been able to detect it, but he knew it wasn't normal, and it definitely had something to do with this guy's unnaturally slow heart beat. It was the smell of death and ozone that made the hairs on Matt's neck stand up. It was barely there, but the smell of decaying flesh was unmistakable. he had smelled it far to often before.

"Take out for Bill Folson," the guy said-and  _ wow,  _ footsteps as light as his should not belong to a voice like his. It was a rich, deep baritone that nearly reverberated. It sounded like the voice a male model would have, or a really hot actor in those dumb action films Foggy made him 'watch' in their college days.

"You guys feel it too, right?" Danny asked, leaning forward. Matt nodded, but Luke and Jessica shook their heads.

"He's doing that weird blind guy thing again," Jessica pointed out, looking over at Matt. His head was tilted, listening intently to the newcomer. But he knew Danny couldn't smell when he did or hear how he could, so how did Danny know something was wrong.

"Take-out," Matt whispered. Jessica looked over to see a tall, fake blonde with ice blue eyes and a forced smile as he took the large serving of food and paid before heading out.

"Are we going?" Jessica asked, looking from Matt, to Danny, to Luke, and the blonde halfway out the door. Matt nodded before they could even discuss, and stood up. The others followed, but not before Danny paid for the meal and left a very generous tip.

As it turns out, tailing him wasn't that hard. Jessica was small enough to get into hard to reach places, and Matt was an expert at jumping from building to building. All Luke and Danny had to do was blend in on the bus that Bill Folson had taken, just in case anything happened. But whatever this guy was or could do, it set Danny on edge. Luke wasn't too happy about that.

Luke couldn't help but smile though as the guy's phone started to ring, blaring out the theme from  _ Ghostbusters.  _ So this kid was a dork. Nice to know.

"Hello?" he said. He listened on the other line, and his shoulders seemed to sag a little bit. "Yeah...Yeah, it's no problem, I can come in early tomorrow. Yeah, don't worry about it. Uh-huh." He listened again, nodding before giving him another noise. "Yeah. Okay, see you tomorrow." Bill hung up and sighed, and Luke tried to make friendly conversation.

"Trouble at work?" He asked. Bill looked over at him, an eyebrow raised, but then he just shrugged and nodded.

"Yeah, they overbooked tomorrow, so now the garage is full of cars and they need an extra pair of hands," he explained. So the guy was a mechanic? Okay? "I don't mind though, I mean, it's always nice to have a little more cash in my pocket."

The guy seemed pretty easy going, but there was the way he sat that unnerved Luke. Like he was waiting for someone to come out and scare him. Like he was preparing himself for the worst. His eyes were trained on the doors every few seconds, but other than that they were everywhere else, never staying in one place for longer than a few seconds. A guy his size should never be that jumpy in Luke's opinion. A guy that size shouldn't need a reason to be.

They didn't say anything else, but when they stopped again, Bill got up, his phone ringing in his hands again. Luke saw the way he flinched for a moment before answering. Danny and Luke got off with him, and Luke couldn't help but notice that this was way to lose to his and Claire's apartment.

Bill hadn't seemed to notice they were following him though. He seemed to trained on his conversation. Danny huffed and nudged Luke, nodding towards the buildings where a shadow was ducking.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Bill was saying. He listened to the other person. From the sound of it it was a girl, but it was still to muffled to be able to tell what they were saying. "It's just for a little while-temporary, I promise. Then everything will go back to normal...I know. I'm sorry." he turned and climbed up the stairs to his apartment building, walking in and letting the door shut itself. They waited a little longer before continuing on. Luke's phone vibrated in his pocket, and he took it out.

_ From: Jessica _

_ Meet at my place. Bring horns, too. _

* * *

 

"So what are we dealing with?" Danny asked. He was still unnerved from this guy, which made no sense. He had a sort of aura about him that was a weird sort of energy unlike anything Danny had ever felt. Like death but also the overwhelming need to keep everybody safe. What was he?

"His real name is Danny," Matt said, leaning against the desk on Jessica's left. Luke was on the other side, leaning over but not over her shoulder like Danny.

"Danny? But you said his name was Bill," Danny said. This thing had the same name as him? Weird.

"It's called an alias, temple boy," Jessica stated, every word oozing with sarcasm. "Just gimme a second. And a drink."

Luke was the one that obliged her, pouring her two fingers and nothing more. She downed it quickly before turning back to her laptop, typing furiously.

"What are you doing?" Matt asked, looking at her window.

"Well, he's in hiding according to your super eavesdropping skills, meaning he probably wants the world to think he's either dead or missing. So all we have to do is look up any missing Danny's that are around his age and we should be able to find him sort of soon."

"All Dannys?" Danny asked. "Isn't there like, a filter for physical traits or anything like hair and eyes?"

"Your boy is a fake blonde. I could see the roots, they were dark. It was a rush job," Jessica replied. Jessica briefly glanced at Matt, but decided against a blind joke. She could always just move the furniture later if she really felt like it.

"He smelled weird," Matt offered, looking at the spot jut to the side of her head. Jessica gave him a look.

"How is that gonna help us?" She asked.

"By weird I mean like he's dying," he clarified. "Decaying. And his heart rate was so slow he shouldn't have even been able to be awake."

"He has this weird energy, too," Danny offered. "Like...Death, but good? I've heard of reapers from the elders in K'un-Lun but everybody thought they were just myths."

"You'll believe in dragons but not a reaper?" Luke asked, a small grin making it's way onto his face.

"I'll believe it when I see it. And I've seen a dragon," he defended. That only made Luke's grin wider.

"Uh...I might...Have found him..." Jessica said, half distracted by the screen. On it was a picture of a black-haired man that had the same blue eyes as their "Bill," and the same strong jaw. He was smiling, a big toothy grin like he had no care in the world. It was unlike what Luke had seen on the bus, with his sagging shoulders and tired frame.

"Yeah, that's him. Danny Fenton. Where's he from?" Danny asked.

"Some place called Amity Park, Illinois. Small town, blink-and-you-miss-it type," Jessica answered. She opened up a new window and quickly found herself on the home page of the town.

"You said he smelled dead, right?" Jessica asked. Matt nodded, and she hummed.

"What do you got?" Luke asked.

"Says here Amity Park is constantly being invaded by ghosts. So much so that they actually have some local ghost hunters, the Fentons. But the parents, Jack and Maddie died in a fire just a couple of weeks ago...Sister is a psychiatrist in the upper part of town...old friends with the mayor...Danny though. He went missing. Says he had been visiting his parents when the fire started. They never found the body, but everyone thinks he died...Wait, take a look at this."

She clicked on a couple of images. One being Danny, and the other being a whie haired man with toxic green eyes, both with the same smirk. They called him Inviso-Bill.

"Inviso-Bill and Danny are the same person, he's playing superhero in his hometown."

"Wait, Inviso-Bill? At least now we know where he got his name," Mat offered.

"Danny's two best friends were Tucker Foley and Sam Manson. Folson. Jeez, this kid does not know how to go underground at all," Jessica muttered.

"Yeah, but why is he going underground?" Danny asked.

"Well, he's a ghost superhero, his parents are ghost hunters. And in a town that's being invaded on the daily they can't be the only ones,' Jessica answered.

"How do we know it's not a hoax?" Luke asked. "I mean, come on. Ghosts? Seriously?"

"They're real," Danny said.

"You'll believe in anything at this point, won't you?" Luke asked. Danny gave him a shit-eating grin and shrugged.

"I'm not saying their real," Matt said slowly, "but it would kind of explain...Well, everything."

"So what are we gonna do? Knock on his door and ask for sugar?" Jessica asked, turning away from her computer. Matt shrugged and gave them a small grin.

"That's exactly what we're going to do."

* * *

 

Danny groaned as he climbed the steps to his floor. The only thing worse than a broken elevator was a broken elevator when your body hurt all over from work. The thought of flying up to his room crossed his mind, but he forced it out before he could actually think about it. No, if he was going to lay low for a little while he needed to not use his powers. Plus that's how they were going to find him. They were just waiting for him to do  _ something.  _ He wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

He pulled out his keys in a motion he wished was a little bit smoother and unlocked the door to his apartment, taking in the plain decor and simple, gross couch he got off of Craigslist. He went to the kitchen and leaned on the counter, rubbing the tiredness out of his face.

Had it really only been two weeks? God, he had been so preoccupied with trying to get away he didn't even get to go to his parents' funeral. Or heal properly. His side ached less and less everyday, but it was the kind of burn that would have hospitalized a normal person. Unfortunately, though, he wasn't normal.

He stayed there on the counter for a few moments, wanting to think about Amity but refusing to let himself do so, before being knocked back to reality with his phone. The caller ID said Unknown Number, but he knew that it was Sam. His Sam, that he hasn't seen for two weeks and won't be able to see for much longer. He sat up and answered it, walking over to the window as he did.

"Hey," he said. His voice was tired, but he was always glad to hear from his girl.

_ "Hey, hun,"  _ Sam replied, nothing but loving worry in her voice. Danny smiled at the sound of it. If he was gonna be apart from her for so long, at least he ot to hear her voice.  _ "How was work?" _

"Exhausting. I swear to Clockwork, if I have to change one more oil I'm gonna scream."

_ "How's the view, then?"  _ She was trying to cheer him up, he knew, but he just couldn't. He missed Amity and his friends, and he would do anything to be back there. But with those people on his tail there was no way he was going to. He couldn't put Sam or anybody else in danger.

"Real pretty at night. Like stars, but...Pretty. And everything is so tall, way taller than back there. All I want to do is..." He lost his train of thought when a movement caught his eye. It was a reflection in the mirror, some guy in a red suit trying to sneak up on him.

_ "To see everything from up high, I know. Hey, I have to jump off. I love you, Danny." _

"I love you to, Sam."

He had barely hung up when he whirled around and swung at the mysterious figure. The guy dodged it, reaching for a stick at his hip as he did so.

"Who are you?" Danny asked. He was thankful his mom had taught him martial arts. Otherwise he'd be screwed against a guy like this without his powers. His opponent didn't answer, but he didn't keep on throwing punches either. He heard shuffling to the side and glanced over to see a tall bald man standing next to a smaller, curly haired kid Danny had seen on the news. Wasn't he that Rand guy that came back from the dead? What was he doing here with this guy? What were any of them doing here.

"Hey," he said. "What are you guys doing here? Who even are you?"

"Well," a woman this time spoke. He turned to his living room to see a dark haired lady with a scarf and a look in her eyes that told everybody not to fuck with her. Danny didn't want to be on the receiving end of that. "We're here to find out what you are, what you've done, and what you can do," she stated. Then she smirked and added, "Danny."

A chill ran down Danny's spine. So they knew? But how? He had done nothing but cover his tracks. Hell, he even dyed his hair! And...Well, his name could have used a little more thought, but it sounded nothing like Danny Fenton!

"Who are you?" He asked again.

The four seemed to consider for a moment, but that was long enough for Danny to bolt. He turned right back around and slammed his weight through the window and fell onto the fire escape before climbing. He had some nasty cuts from the glass, and his shoulder was starting to sport a horrible bruise from shoving his large frame through a tiny window. His side wasn't helping him at all, aching almost as much as when he had first got it. He was sure it was bleeding now, but he couldn't stop.

He wasn't the best climber, but he was fast, and really that's what mattered in the end. If he got to the roof first he would practically be home free. He sprinted away, pumping his arms harder and harder as he jumped from one building to the next, the pain in his side growing every time he landed. He needed to make himself unknown soon, or else he was as good as fully dead.

He was almost surprised that the guy in he red suit was almost able to keep up with him, and made the mistake of looking back. He tripped over his own feet and landed  _ hard,  _ rolling over a couple times before finally coming to a stop. His wound was bleeding badly now, and there was no stopping it. Not when he felt like he was going to pass out. But if they knew who he was, that mean they probably knew what he was, and he couldn't stop. He started getting back up again, but paused when the guy's feet came into his vision.

"You're hurt," he said.

"Who are you?" Danny spat. "What do you want?" he grit his teeth, clutching his side with one hand as a mixture of red and green oozed out.

"Daredevil. And you're-"

"-Don't!" Danny cut him off, looking around briefly ou of paranoia. "Don't say. They might be listening."

"Who?" Daredevil asked.

"I'll tell you, just not-ngh-not here."

"Come on, we have a safe place we can crash." Daredevil held out his hand, and Danny took it. He slowly climbed to his feet, but that was a big mistake. The second he did, his knees buckled, and his vision became blurry. Daredevil barely had time to catch him before he passed out.

* * *

 

Danny woke up to the sound of voices. They were muffled, but he could recognize one of them as that woman from the night before. What was she saying...

Danny was knocked out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his side where the burn was, and without thinking he sprung up, grabbing the small wrist in his hand tightly. It belonged to a dark skinned woman with kind eyes and dark hair. She seemed surprised, but only because his reaction was so sudden. She was wearing a pair of blue gloves, and in the hand he had grabbed was a cloth.

"Where am I?" he asked, looking around. He didn't let go of her.

"You're somewhere safe. My friend brought you here, said you needed medical attention. This burn looks really bad. Why haven't you gotten it treated?"

"Who are you?" Danny asked, not answering her question. He seemed to be asking that a lot lately.

"Get rid of the death grip on my wrist and I'll tell you," she said, raising an eyebrow. A beat passed between them before he forced his fingers to let go.

"You know, now that the burn is being properly treated you're healing pretty fast. Faster than I've ever seen. And the cuts you got the other night from the window? Those are already gone."

"Wait-other night? How long have I been out?" Danny asked.

"Two days. You needed it to. You were exhausted, dehydrated, and bleeding out. Even with super healing you need to take a break. Now come on, lie on your side so I can change the bandages."

"Yeah...Yeah. Okay." Danny obliged, turning over and trying not to freak out about the situation. He had been kidnapped by mystery people and was being tended to, but he had his shirt off, meaning she was seeing all of his scars from ghost hunting.

"Jesus, you're freezing," she muttered as she took continued to wipe the wound down. Danny flinched, but he managed to stay still. enough for her to finish. It only took a few short minutes, but that was long enough for Danny to get so tense it hurt. She paced a clean bandage over it and stood up.

"Be careful, okay? You're not all bulletproof." Then she stood and headed towards the door. Just before she opened it, she turned to him and smiled. "My name is Claire, by the way."

Danny nodded, and as she left he couldn't help but fall back asleep.

 


	68. Poltergeist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Submitted by: Guest: Okay idea the avenger hear about Danny but due to the episode with the ghost zone portals taking him to different time periods the avenger think he is thousands of years old and appears when bad stuff happens you know like the fire in Rome and the destruction of a temple in ancient Asia that plus the time Walker and Freakshow framed him the now think he is some kind of old evil spirit

The Avengers had grown up learning about Phantom just like every other child of the earth. He was known for the destruction of some temples in Asia, the big fire in Rome, and it had been hinted that he was one of the main causes of the destruction of the Library of Alexandra. He was hundreds of years old, but nobody could ever tell what he looked like because his face was hidden by a black cloak, but it was little known fact that he had hair whiter than snow, and toxic green eyes that could freeze you in your spot with just a glance. Like Medusa, but with ice.

He was the kind of story you'd tell your friends around a camp fire or at a slumber part. Bruce's parents in particular told him that Phantom took little boys who refused to eat their vegetables. But eventually, he became less real. The more this band of friends grew up, the more of a myth Phantom had become, until they were just a small, insignificant memory in the back of their minds that was only used for reminiscing. After all, he was just a ghost story.

Or at least, he was supposed to be.

The thing they were starring at could have only been Phantom, except he wasn't scary at all. Not by any standards. Even Bruce, who had a small fear of Phantom, didn't seem intimidated. Because nowhere in any of the stories did anybody ever saw Phantom was a kid.

He was a scrawny thing with white hair and green eyes, bit nothing about him seemed even remotely evil. In fact, he gave off the vibe of a good guy.

"What are you?" Clint asked, raising his bow and arrow at the floating being. He held up his hands in defense, looking very worried for his afterlife.

"Um..." he replied, still starring at all of them like they had grown two heads.

"Well, come kn, spit it out," Iron Man said.

"Sorry, it's just-when I imagined meeting you guys it was never like this. Um. Okay, right, my name is Phantom. Hi, how are you?"

So it was him. But how? He was just a scarred kid-ghost thing that could take over the world, and here he was, practically trembling at Hawkeye. It was strange.

"Looks like we better talk first, shoot later," Captain America said, stepping forward. He placed a hand on Hawkeye's shoulder, and Phantom seriously couldn't believe it.  _ The  _ Captain America was sitting right in front of him. It was amazing, to say the least.

"I don't understand," Bruce said, pushing up his glasses. "Where's the cloak? The fangs? The evil demeanor, and being able to freeze enemies where they stood? You don't seem like a big time legend, really."

"Uh," Phantom said, looking highly confused. "I'm sorry, I think? Gotta be honest, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Cap turned to Natasha, who shrugged, silently telling him she wasn't detecting any lies. Maybe there's some other evil ghosts that destroyed entire civilizations, but Cap doubted it.

"We're talking about the fire of Rome, the temples in Asia collapsing, the Library of Alexandra being burnt to the ground, to name a few," Iron Man said. Phantom just stared at him, confused for a moment longer.

"Um, I didn't do any of that. Who told you I did that?" The boy seemed intrigued as he took a more comfortable spot in the air. His arms were behind his head as he floated on his back. He let his head hang so he saw everybody upside down. Just by watching that it made Cap wonder how this kid could have done all of those things. And then he briefly reminded himself that this was a ghost. They didn't have to look old and powerful to be old and powerful. But even then he sensed no malicious intent with this guy.

"There are several counts throughout history describing a white haired green eyed ghost destroying everything," Hawkeye said simply, his fingers itching to shoot something. Phantom's head tilted to the side as he thought for a moment.

"Oh!I know what you're talking about! That must have been when Vlad stole the Infi-Map!"

"When who stole the what?" Bruce asked, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Phantom groaned and flipped over to his stomach.

"Okay, so Vlad is this evil ghost-my arch nemesis. And the Infi-map is this super powerful ghostly artifact that can take you anywhere you want at any when you want. Vlad stole it from my pal, Frostbite, and me and my friends had to stop him, but there were some complications along the way. Like the Colosseum thing and when we ended up in Salem and my girlfriend almost got burned at the stake. But we beat him, so I guess that's cool..." Phantom trailed, rubbing the back if his neck nervously as he made eye contact with each Avenger. He seemed more guarded now that the Avengers had almost hurt him. Steve almost felt bad.

"How long ago did this happen?" Natasha asked, placing a well manicured hand on her hip. Her eyebrow was raised, but other than that she showed no emotion, and part of him couldn't help but be intimidated. The other part of him was reminded of Sam. Danny rubbed his chin in thought. It had happened around the time he got his powers, so maybe a year ago? Time has become a sort of blur since he had become a ghost.

"Uh...I'm not sure, really," Danny answered honestly. "I don't keep track of time very well. But it was recently, like, within the past year. Why?"

The past year? They had been expecting an answer like one thousand years, not just one. That meant that their childhoods had been haunted by this ghost because of something that happened a year ago? Because he decided to play cat-mouse with a guy named Vlad? He couldn't be serious...Could he?

This kid who didn't know any better had completely changed history, and they couldn't help hut wonder if all of that stuff would still be around if he hadn't been there.

"Who is this Vlad guy?" Hawkeye piped up. Right, Phantom had been chasing him. So really it was him to blame.

"He goes by Plasmius but his name is Vlad Masters," Phantom replied, not bothering to hide the venom in his voice.

"The billionaire?" Iron Man asked. Phantom nodded and huffed angrily.

"Yeah, he's a halfa too. Gets on my goddamned nerves, always planning something."

"Halfa?" Natasha questioned.

"Half ghost, half human," Phantom offered.

"Why do you hate this guy so much? Other than the fact that he's obviously evil," Bruce asked. Anybody who would destroy that much knowledge was a villain in his book.

"He has this thing for my mom and wants me to be his apprentice or whatever," Phantom waved off. "It's been going on for years now, but he's always hated dad for marrying mom. Thinks I should be his. If you ask me I think he should just get another lonely guy cat."

Mom? Dad? This ghost had parents? Wait, he said he was a halfa. That means he's also human. Do his parents know? And how does one become a halfa? More importantly how does he know Vlad has a cat? Every time any of the Avengers tried analyzing anything Phantom said they always ended up with more questions, and it was really starting to get annoying.

"Parents?" Iron Man asked, confused. "How can you have parents if you're dead? Theoretically speaking of course." Apparently Stark hadn't listened to the ghost's word choice like Natasha and Bruce had.

"Uh, dude I didn't become a ghost like a year and a half ago. My folks are still alive. Geez, you're as dark as my girlfriend."

There was a ping from Phantom's pocket, and he grimaced as he looked at his phone.

"Damn it..." he muttered.

"What's wrong?" Iron Man asked.

"Well, speaking of girlfriends, I'm gonna be late for my date because of you guys, that's what. Listen, we can pick this up some other time, but right now I gotta go. See you around!"

With that he disappeared-literally, leaving the Avengers in a state of shock.

"Uh," Hawkeye drawled, "What just happened?" Iron Man shrugged.

"I have no freaking clue, Legolas. Not a single one."


	69. In Your Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Could you do a fic with void!Danny/nocturne!danny meets the avengers? Maybe he tries to keep them asleep like that one ep and they have to fight back? I'd love to see that in your writings
> 
> Also, trigger warning for child abuse? Nothing to detailed I think, but it's in Clint's section, which comes directly after Natasha's. If you want to skip that here is your heads up.

Danny had died from fear.

It was little known how the dream reaper came to be. Only that whatever he perished from had terrified him more than anything. In those last moments of life he had, he had vowed to make others suffer like he had. When his soul finally made it to the Ghost Zone he took on a new name. When he heard it in worried whispers he couldn't help but smile to himself. After all, those who were brave enough to mutter the name Nocturn were the most fun to tear down.

Now he lived for fear.

It was a very rare experience for him to leave his lair, but a ghost has to do what a ghost has to do. And for him it was stupidly easy. After all these years they still hadn't forced any sort of restriction against him leaving to the mortal plane. Yes, it was against the riles, bit nobody ever told  _him_ what to do, for fear of...Well, fear itself.

Danny gave a toothy grin as he stepped out if his portal, his green, pupil-less eyes a beacon in the night. He took a big whiff of air, noticing the arid pollution he just inhaled, an sighed in contentment. Oh, this was going to be  _fun_

It didn't take him ling to go through a large chunk of the Big Apple, sneaking into peoples dreams and feeding off of their nightmares. From room to room he traveled, not having a specific path in mind. When he fed off of the nightmare from a small boy, he finally took a second to breathe, relishing in his new power. It felt good to be back.

And then he saw it.

There, in the middle of the city was a glowing beacon. A tall tower with the letter  _A_ stood proud and tall, beckoning the nightmare ghost to it. Danny wasted no time sinking into the shadows, laughing maniacally as he did so.

He grinned as he rose from the floor, detaching himself from the shadows that his stark white hair contrasted with greatly. The room was dark and empty, nut he could sense the presence of reams on the building. In fact, there were two just on this floor...

He rushed to on of the doors, easily going throughout and finding a fine specimen indeed. He was big, blonde, and turned on his side, asleep. Danny licked his lips as he crept forward until he was towering over him, his hands around his head. He gasped at what he saw. The blonde was there, dancing with a pretty brunette in a dark red dress with eyeliner so sharp it could kill. They swished this way and that, the woman giggling and muttering loving things with her rich accent.

Danny twisted his clawed hand, closing his fingers slightly, and the dream shifted. Now the blonde was on a speeding train, reaching for someone who was hanging off the side of it. The stranger fell, and with him so did the blonde. Not enough. It wasn't enough, Danny needed more to feed off of. He twisted his hand again, his hand half way to being a fist. It was the blonde again, only this time he was dressed nicely in a suit from the forties. People were celebrating around him, but everything was silent save for every loud pop and bang that happened throughout the room, making the blonde flinch every time. Ah, yes. Now Danny was getting somewhere.

The noises started becoming more frequent, more loud, until it eventually drowned out everything. even the blonde's thoughts. Danny grinned as he watched he hyperventilating figure drop to his knees, covering his ears and curling in on himself, somehow making his large body look small. Flashes came from the blonde's head, now. It wasn't anything Danny had manipulated. Oh, this was getting so interesting.

It was the blonde, dressed as the American flag with the iconic shield strapped to his back as be ran through a war zone, dodging bullets left and right.

The blonde's physical body was coated in a sheen of sweat, and he was starting to thrash around. It was always a curious experience to see people hyperventilating in their sleep, gasping for air from something they could never escape.

Danny dropped his hands, letting the blonde suffer in silence aw he left to the other person on this floor, which just so happened to be a few doors down.

This time it was a dark skinned man in a gray sweater that had  _ARMY_ written across it in big, bland letters. So he was a veteran as well. There was nothing quite like the taste of PTSD. It was certainly one of Danny's favorite. Especially if mixed with some self doubt or a side of failure. Like this young fellow.

From the looks of his pinched face, he was a,ready experiencing something unpleasant in his own head. Danny placed his hands around the man's head like he did with the blonde and hum,ed.

This man was more than just in the army. He had been a free bird, rescuing people from the war zones the blonde had been to busy running through. There was another person flying next to him, smiling a big toothy grin. His goggles were crooked and his hair was everywhere, and Danny could tell the man was held at such a high regard form his little birdy. Everything went south without Danny having to do anything. The grinning, dark haired boy was still smiling as bullets ripped through his body. He was still smiling when he fell to the ground, and he was still smiling when his body made a sickening splat sound.

Danny breathed in the chaos, relishing in it, really. His hand closed ever so slightly.

Now it was his little bird flying high over the city, looking down at the American blonde in his arms as he carried him. Danny could guess what happened next without even watching. But he did anyway, because where was the fun in turning away a show with his dinner?

It started slowly. First the wing malfunctioned, dropping them down and down, until finally they hit the ground. Birdy had twisted his body so that he took the brunt of the force, but when he took his wings away from the blonde, he was riddled with bullet holes, his neck snapped and his glazed eyes blaming his little birdy. It was truly horrifying. If all the dreams in this building were like this he should come back more often.

The man was gripping the sheets, mumbling in his sleep and rolling this way and that. Danny couldn't help but feel proud of his handy work as he lifted to the next floor, finding only one on this floor.

He effortlessly crept into the room through the shadows and peered down at the red head. Her face showed no emotion. When Danny placed his hands around her head, it was a dark nothingness. Danny grinned. Blank canvases were his favorite.

He tapped her skull ans everything appeared all at once, making her face scrunch up in protest. There were bright lights and painful torture. There were hands cuffed to the bed, and there was sharp pains everywhere. Danny almost laughed at how  _delicious_ this one was. After all, it's not often you get someone with a tortured past like this. The kind where they were never really a child in the first place. Danny clenched his fist, and it didn't seem to shift. No, instead her dream moved forward full throttle. There was a blonde man, a different one then the one he had already visited. He had a bow and arrow, and was approaching her like one would a scared animal.

The red head lunged forward, knocking the bow away. She straddled him, punching him in the face and over until it was a bloody, unrecognizable mess with half his teeth missing, before taking one of the arrows from his quiver and plunging it through his chest.

"Natasha..." The blonde whispered. But his host, Natasha just stood up and walked away, completely void of emotion.

Just like her training.

Danny released her, noting how her whole body was stiff and her knuckles white as she clenched her fists. It was hard enough to cause a tiny bit of blood to leak from her palm.

Danny moved on.

And boy oh boy, he was gonna have  _fun_ with this one. He had stumbled upon the blonde from Natasha's dream, sleeping under a mountain of covers and cuddling with a giant stuffed dog. Oh, this would he to easy.

This man didn't fear much, Danny was quick to realize. But that only made it easier to pick out which one was the worst. He was faced with a large, tall blonde putting a heavy grip on the small shoulder of the host and shoved him to the ground, swinging as hard as he could. The stench of alcohol wafted from his breath, and Danny almost moaned at the taste of every punch that connected with the child's face.

Then he let the dream shift willingly, following this person into the depths of his mind.

It was dark at first, but when it became bright again, Clint was standing in a room full of people. All of his friends and people he considered family were in there, all to crowded. The lights turned off, casting the room in pitch black darkness before turning back on again. The pain in Clint's eyes was as much as the pain in his heart when he realized someone had disappeared from the room.

This process repeated over and over until finally only the Avengers were left.

"Bruce," hos host whispered, pleading. He was on his knees, looking up at the curly haired man. The lights shut off. When they came back on Brice was gone.

"Listen, Thor, I'll teach you more Midgardian slang, please just don't-"

Again, and Thor was gone.

"Tony...I know I'm a pain in the ass but-"

Tony left.

"Steve, come on, old man, you're the only one who's-"

Steve disappeared.

Tears were streaming down his host's face now as he looked up, silently begging for Natasha to stay. She spat on the ground in front of him. The lights turned off.

He was completely alone.

Danny let go slowly, savoring every last drop from this one. He was special. Danny was almost tempted to take him into the Zone with him so he could have a never ending supply of nightmares to feed off of, but thought against it. He didn't need the observants on his ass.

He exited the room quietly, not looking back at Clint's crying figure as he stayed in his dreamscape. He inhaled deeply, finding a new scent. It was way down below, in the basement. He smelled PTSD, neglect, attachment issues...Much like the archer he had just left. Danny grinned as he began slipping through the floor.

He was maybe half way through when something hard hit him in the back, knocking him forward and out of the floor. Danny growled and turned around, only to see Thor and the others he had haunted. Danny smirked.

"Back for more?" He taunted, straightening up. He was smaller than every single one of them, scrawny and pale, but he had more strength in his pinky finger than they did in their whole bodies. Especially after feeding off of  _their_ nightmares.

Off t the side, the archer's door slid open, revealing a groggy Clint rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Whas goin' on?" he mumbled.

"Clint, back up," Natasha spoke. It was like a switch went off. Clint was immediately more or less awake as he began walking towards his friends. Oh, but Danny had a better idea. After all, he couldn't just let this one get away from him.

Danny lunged forward, grabbing Clint by the waist and pulling him back. Danny held his arms to his side with one arm, the other one reaching around his throat. He gave the lucid Avengers a wicked grin, tracing his claws down Clint's Adam's apple, feeling the nervous swallow.

"One wrong move," he said. He didn't need to finish the thought. Steve immediately put his shield down, leaning it against the wall, and his friend, the birdy, had placed his gun next to it. Thor dropped his hammer, and Natasha held her hands up in surrender. Clint couldn't have felt more ashamed that this was happening, all because he had been to slow. Why did he have to be such a dummy?

Suddenly the hand around his throat left, gesturing as he spoke to the others. Clint didn't hear a word he said. At least he had been able to read Nat's lips when she told him to move his ass, but now he was completely out of luck.

And then it came back. The thing holding onto him let go, screeching in pain, and Clint immediately scrambled over to Tony, who was decked out in the Iron Man armor, holding up his bow and arrow in the hand that wasn't smoking. Clint grinned at him, signing a quick thank you before grabbing an arrow and pulling the string tight, aiming right for those blazing, unearthly green eyes.

"You mortals won't win," he taunted. He moved again, and man, wasn't that a trip. It was strange seeing space be his body, but it wasn't moving with him. Like a bad cartoon, except with a cooler pattern.

"Be gone. drauger!" Thor bellowed, swinging his hammer around. Lightning started to collect around it, and the 'drauger' sneered.

"I'll come for you next, Odinson," it hissed. And then it melted into the shadows.

There was a sort of blanket that lifted off of them. It was completely unnoticeable until the thing had left, and with it the bad energy. But he had left his mark on them, had looked into most of their deepest fears that they never told anybody. This...This would have lasting effects.

"Thank you, Thor," Steve said, gripping the god's shoulder tightly. His face was pale and his blue eyes were hard, but he gave his friend a weak smile nonetheless.

"I will happily smite any drauger that lays a and on you, my friends. They are vile creatures that do not deserve the afterlife." Thor sounded pissed, but calm somehow. They all nodded with him, different levels of distress across their faces. But all heads swiveled to Iron Man when he cleared his throat for everybody's attention.

"Anybody want a drink?" he asked, gesturing to the elevator behind him.

Nobody protested.


	70. Sticky Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: Could you do one where stick introduces phantom to the team to fight the hand or something?

"Stick, who is this?" Daredevil asked,glaring at him from under the mask. Whoever his old mentor had brought, he was...An anomaly, to say the least. His heart was strong, but pumping at such a sluggish pace he shouldn't be awake, and the smell. It was something...foreign, like it didn't really belong on this planet, mixed with a little bit of cheap cologne. When he shook hands with this guy he could feel the cold through his glove.

"I'm Phantom," he said, giving the group a smile. He brushed his white locks out f his eyes and held out his hand for the others to shake, but nobody else seemed interested. The dude with curly hair narrowed his eyes at Phantom,looking almost afraid.

"What  _are_  you?" He asked, taking a protective step forward.

"Er...A ghost...Hence the name? I mean, come on, man," Phantom answered with a roll of his eyes.

"I brought him here so he could help you all defeat the Hand," Stick interrupted, limping forward.

"Where the hell did you even find a ghost?" Jessica asked, crossing her arms over her chest and giving Phantom a once-over.

"I summoned him," Stick answered casually.

"Right," Luke said. "Because it's so easy to think that that's possible."

"Well, if you would get your head out of your ass it wouldn't be a problem. Now-"

"-How did you summon him?" Jessica interrupted. "Was it random or is he someone big and powerful?"

"He's a very special ghost, very powerful, and there are only three of his kind in existence, so yes, it was specific, no it wasn't hard, and you can ask him about it later."

"He's just a kid!" Luke protested. Phantom glared slightly.

"Hey, man, I'm fifteen! That's almost an adult!"

"Whatever, Pipsqueak. Whatever helps you sleep at night," Jessica said, sarcasm oozing out with every word.

"Do ghosts even sleep?" Daredevil wondered aloud.

"It doesn't matter," Stick said, bringing them back to the real problem. "What matters is that we have extra fire power against the Hand."

"Can anybody fill me in on the Hand? I'm sure knowing what I'm fighting will be helpful."

"Why do you even want to do this?" Danny asked, eyes narrowed. "They haven't wronged you in any way."

"Well, Stick summoned me, so I kind of  _have_ to do what he says. And he's saying beat the Hand, or whatever, so I will.

"Later," Stick said again. "Right now, we need to focus. What's the game plan?"

* * *

 

"So how long have you been dead?" Luke asked as they walked through the creepy hallways of the Hand's base. It was sterile and white-blindingly so, and it unnerved the both of them. Danny shrugged.

"About a year ago. There was a lab accident and I got electrocuted with ten thousand volts of ectoplasmic electricity."

"That doesn't sound fun."

"It wasn't."

"Yeah. So what, you just run around and fight crime?" There was a bit of joking in his tone, but Danny knew he was at least half serious.

"Kind of. It was mostly just ghosts that kept coming out of the Ghost Zone, I just kept throwing back in. I mean, I saved the world once, too. That was cool, I guess."

Luke raised an eyebrow at that. He had never caught wind of a ghost apocalypse or anything remotely similar. The only earth-shattering things that have happened are the Battle of New York and whatever the fuck went down in Sokovia with that robot guy. But the kid didn't look like a good liar. Maybe he was telling the truth.

"What about you?" Phantom asked a few minutes later. Luke shrugged.

"Prison experiment gave me super strength and bulletproof skin."

"Cool."

The original four didn't know what to expect when Phantom fought alongside them. Yeah, they expected him to use his ghost powers, but ghost powers mixed with martial arts? That was a whole new level. He was sending ecto-powered roundhouses and ice-covered punches. It was truly amazing to glance at the smooth motions when fighting their own villain.

"Who are you? Bakuto asked, astounded that he couldn't even really  _touch_ this new guy. That had been a rare thing to occur, and now, with the kind of energy this guy was giving off, it was just unnerving.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Phantom taunted, dodging a punch thrown near his face. At times like this he couldn't have been more thankful his mother taught him some martial arts. If he had only his ghost powers in this fight, he knew he would probably be screwed.

"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to switch dance partners," Bakuto said, not at all upset by it. He back-flipped out of the way and towards the elevator. Danny was about to go after him when a heavy hand on his shoulder stopped him. He whirled around, ready to strike, but instead came face to face with Jessica.

"Later," she said. "Right now? Devil Boy's ex-girlfriend."

Danny found himself having a hard time coming up with the nerve to say no to her, so he just did as he was asked, and flew over to Elektra.

There was something about fighting her that was different. Yeah, she was no Bakuto, but it felt like she was on her own level, at the very top of the pyramid, and it scared Danny down to his core. She was able to hit him, and it was like his fists went right through her. Even with his enhanced strength and other ghost powers, his martial arts were nowhere near her level.

"Curious little child, aren't you?" She said, easily dodging a kick from Phantom. He threw a punch, and then another kick. This time she caught it, gripping his ankle with a sort of strength he thought only Jessica possessed, and threw him into the cavern walls, right in between two rib bones of the dragon that held everything up.

All of a sudden, everything started rumbling, and shaking uncontrollably. Colleen and Misty must have finally set off the explosions, which meant they didn't have a lot of time to patch this up. He could get his friends out of here, but he knew he wouldn't be able to get the Hand leaders out. But Stick had said, before he died, that they were gonna kill them, and although he wanted to go against that and save everybody, the summoning contract prevented him from doing so. Stick may be dead, but the mission was still not complete, and if the mission wasn't complete then he was still at the mercy of Stick's friends until the hand was defeated. Whether or not that meant for good escaped Danny.

"Phantom, let's go," Danny said, worried. He, Luke, and Jessica were already heading for the elevator. And while he really wanted to, he couldn't just leave Daredevil to fight Elektra by himself. He shook his head and headed back to the fight. Daredevil stopped him though.

"You need to go with them," he whispered in Phantom's ear. Phantom reeled back, surprise written on his face.

"I can't just leave you here, you'll-"

"-You need to get them out of here. That elevator won't last forever, and they need someone who can fly to get them out," Daredevil cut off.

"...But what about you?" Phantom looked at him pleadingly, not wanting to leave his friend behind at the hands of Elektra and unstable foundation.

"I'll be fine," he lied. "Someone has to keep Elektra down here."

"Why not me then?" Danny countered. "I'm already dead!"

"Because Elektra is my responsibility."

There was something in his voice that made Phantom actually consider. It was a sort of desperation, like maybe if he got through to her they wold somehow survive what was about to happen. It left no room for argument, and Danny, although begrudgingly, nodded.

"After I get them out, I'll come back for you," he said. Daredevil only nodded. Phantom left, leaving the same way the others had.

He flew up the elevator shaft, worry in his gut at both Daredevil, and the sight before him. The cable had broken, but had been caught by Jessica, who was now holding up a giant elevator with both the weight of Danny and Luke. He admired her strength, and a part of him actually got a little jealous. But he couldn't think about that now. Now, he needed to focus.

He flew up, grabbing Luke and Danny by their arms and lifted them up into the air. Jessica let go of the thick cables and the elevator dropped. He set the boys down next to her and floated in front of them.

"I can get you all out of here quick. You just need to hold tight and trust me, yeah?" he said. There was another large rumble, and the walls around them shook. Jessica wasted no time climbing on Phantom's back, ready to get out of there. Danny and Luke, though hesitant, linked arms with the kid. They weren't sure how well he was gonna be able to get all three of them out of there, but anything at this point was worth a shot. They had wasted to much time talking and not enough running. If it weren't for Phantom they would never be able to get out.

"We'll be fine as long as you guys don't squirm around to much," Phantom grunted as he lifted them up. All of the passengers aboard the S.S. Phantom felt a tingling sensation throughout their whole bodies. It was a cold trail down their spines and into their fingertips as they flew higher and higher. They had gained speed, and were now heading straight for a large rock that had gotten in the way because f of the explosions.

"Phantom-" Danny warned, but was cut off by them going  _through_ the damn thing. Phantom grunted, and Luke could see the sweat beads at his forehead, and couldn't help but feel a little sorry. After all, he was just a kid who had been pulled into this by some crazy old blind man who thought he had a say in everybody's fate. And on top of all that he was dead. That brought forth a new can of worms and Luke wasn't to willing to open it until much later, after all of this had blown over.

What would have taken much to long, Phantom got done in a few short minutes. The kid breathed a sigh of relief when they hit the surface, and the tingling sensation they all had went away as Phantom did his best to set them down gently over just dropping them on their asses. Phantom touched down to, his shoulders sagging slightly. He looked pretty tired for a ghost, and none of them could really blame him.

He looked instantly alert though when another boom went off. Phantom whirled around, only to watch with the others as the building they had been in sunk into the ground, down the giant hole were Daredevil was still fighting Elektra.

"No!" Phantom yelled. He wasted no time in flying back up and into the hole, not bothering to wait for the dust to settle. Jessica stepped forward, worry set in her features.

"He's not going to make it."

Phantom didn't get there before the building reached the bottom of the hole, but that didn't stop him from looking around for any sign of Daredevil or Elektra. He said he would come back, he couldn't let Daredevil down now. Not when he was so close.

Danny didn't know how long he looked. He tried getting every nook and cranny covered, and he was sure that he did, but the only things he found were old dragon bones and the remains of the Hand leaders, which was horrifying in and of itself.

When his core started to pull at him, telling him it was too much, he headed back up. Once he breached the surface for a second time, he dropped his intangibility and pulled on his invisibility. The tingling pull from his core felt like a safety blanket, knowing nobody could see him. There were firefighters and police officers, along with a few reporters and pedestrians. He didn't see any of his friends down there, but one look at the horizon and he knew why.

The sun was starting to rise.

He was tired, and had been up for days. He needed a place to rest, to regenerate, and to eat as much pizza as he could fit. He took out his phone, choosing between which one of them was probably going to let him crash at their place for a few hours. He decided Luke was probably his best option, and set a quick text. The reply was almost immediate, and with his address.

When Danny got to Luke's, he scared the shit out of his girlfriend when he flew through the wall instead of just knocking like a normal person. She was about to hit him with a vase before Luke stopped her and told her who he was. Danny would have laughed if the situation had been different. He's sure they all would, if things had turned out better.

"Hey, man," Luke said, pulling Claire towards him a little. He gave Phantom a soft smile. "How are you holding up?"

A tightness pulled at Danny's chest, and part of it wasn't just from his core. Part of it was from the feeling of failure to do what he had promised Daredevil. He sighed and shrugged, stepping down. As soon as his feet were solidly planted, he fell to his knees, to exhausted to even stand. Claire was at his side in an instant, but backed away quickly when a bright light appeared around Phantom's waist and separated into two rings, going up and down his body. Luke shielded his eyes, and when he looked back again, he was starring at a black haired kid asleep on his floor.

"What the hell?" Claire asked. Luke could only shrug as he bent down and picked Phantom up bridal style before laying him down on the couch. Claire threw a blanket over him, checking his pulse for a brief moment before pulling away.

"He's breathing, and his pulse is slow but strong. You said he was a ghost, right?" Clair asked. Luke nodded, and then so did Claire. "That's probably normal for him then." She looked up at Luke, and then down at the sleeping teenager who looked like he could use ten sandwiches. She hugged his arm, leaning into him, and he rubbed his thumb over her shoulder comfortingly.

"How are you holding up?" She asked him. He shrugged and sighed.

"I'll manage," he replied. He looked down at Phantom, and something protective twisted in his stomach.

Luke would manage.


	71. Winter

The Winter Soldier was a lot of things. He was merciless. He was cruel. He was compliant. He sent a chill down the spines of his handlers every time he so much as looked at them, despite the fact that he was always at their mercy.

Luckily, though, the Winter Soldier no longer existed.

Bucky Barnes did, and he was fixing all of the things Hydra made him do. He had taken out almost all of the Hydra bases he remembered on the western seaboard. The one he was currently checking out now was his last one. He remembered being here briefly, he thinks. Or maybe it was just one like it. But wither way, the shipments that were coming and going didn't look good next to armed guard that were dressed in pristine, white suits.

He gripped his rifle a little tighter, fingering the trigger with his flesh hand. He pulled the scope up to his face before slowing his breath and blowing the brains out of one of the guards. The other one next to him now had red on his suit, and a panicked look on his face under his sunglasses. Bucky climbed down from his hiding spot and slipped in during the confusion, ready to tear apart every single agent in there. But when he got inside, he found a large, empty room. Not a swarm of guards.

The base had a lot of hallways ahead of him, but if this storage room was empty that meant that those weren't shipment trucks, those were moving trucks. He growled and whirled around, shooting the back tires of the three trucks closest to him. He had a sinking feeling in his gut. It was a knot of doubt, that maybe this wasn't a Hydra facility. Maybe his Intel, his own brain, had been wrong. It wouldn't surprise him if it was. But he could swear he could remember those halls.

He quickly shook his head, getting refocused. Take down the base with everyone in it. Burn it to the ground. That was his self-proclaimed mission. He had to do it. Get any information on him in the process.

He crept through the halls, peeking in several doors. If anybody was inside well, they wouldn't be a problem anymore. Not with how fast he was.

He finally found the computer systems, all backed up with rare information about him. He sifted through the main computer, pulling out a flash drive before plugging it in and typing furiously.

But he didn't find anything on him. Instead, he found information on someone called P-42. He narrowed his eyes and clicked on the files.

He was almost sick.

Bucky knew he had been through a lot of bad, crazy shit, but to see a teenager go through all sorts of experiments while awake, well, it made him angry. If he didn't control his temper he was going to be seeing nothing but red here in a few moments.

He was scrawny, with white hair and blazing, green eyes. They called him Phantom when they spoke to him, but in the reports it was strictly P-42. He sifted through some more, because wherever this kid was, whatever bad he had ever done, Bucky knew deep down nobody deserved that kind of torture.

He looked to the cameras, checking the hallways. There were guards running back and forth, but another thing caught his eye. Right under the guards and next to the empty storage room was the live feed of the white haired kid, curled up in the corner of his cell. He had glowing green shackles and green and red-stained hair. His head was in his knees, and Bucky couldn't tell if he was sleeping or cowering.

He was here. He could help.

There was obviously nothing about him on the computers because this wasn't a Hydra base, Bucky concluded, but that didn't stop him from transferring all of the information on the kid onto the drive before packing up and heading to the cells. He was gonna enjoy taking these guys out.

It didn't take long for him to get there, what with his speed and quick firing. And there weren't many cells in this place, so that was also helpful. He slowed to a walk as he gazed into each cell, looking for the teenager. He found him at the very end on the right side, still curled up into a ball. What Bucky couldn't see from the camera is that the kid was trembling harder than a leaf. He knocked on the glass, and the boy shrink in on himself, mumbling something Bucky couldn't pick up. It sounded vaguely like static. Bucky blamed it on the glass.

He knocked again, still no answer. He sighed, tightening his hold on his rifle as he quickly looked behind him to make sure he was still clear.

"Hey, kid!" He said. The boy's head snapped up, eyes wide with fear. His face was sunken in and if Bucky really wanted to he could probably count almost all of his ribs.

"Who are you?" He asked. The bravado in his voice didn't match his trembling figure one bit, and Bucky had to give the kid props for trying.

"Name's Bucky. Watch out for the glass."

Phantom was in the middle of responding when Bucky quickly broke the glass with a few strong punches with his left arm. The first four punches made it spiderweb. It was the fifth that was his lucky shot.

"Why are you here?" Phantom asked, unraveling a little bit. His shaking had stopped, but he was still eyeing Bucky warily, as if this was all a trap. Bucky couldn't blame him for that.

"Came here for answers," Bucky answered truthfully, but vaguely. "Found you instead."

As he spoke he walked towards Phantom, who backed away, running into the wall. There was a spark of defiance in the kid's eyes, and Bucky felt his lops twitch up just a little. Nice to know he wasn't a broken shell of himself like Bucky had been.

He skillfully flipped his knife out of the sheath on his thigh and cut through the green chords holding the boy to the wall.

"Why are you helping me?" Phantom looked at him with confused eyes, but there was a spark of hope in them. Bucky shrugged.

"I was in a similar situation. Nobody deserves this shit."

He pulled Phantom's arm around his shoulders to help him walk. He doubted those strings he called legs were going to do much. Phantom sagged against Bucky, and Bucky briefly thought about just carrying the kid instead of just supporting him.

"Bucky," Phantom grit out. This kid must be hurting all over. Bucky huffed as he pulled Phantom up a little more. "Bucky, I'm-"

He stopped short, falling to the ground on his hands and knees before a bright, white light suddenly enveloped the boy, turning the white hair and green eyes to a shock of black hair and dull, icy irises.

Phantom went sideways, unconscious.

 _Looks like I'm gonna have to carry him anyway,_ Bucky thought as he managed to get the kid in a fireman's carry. This way he was still able to use his gun.

Nobody would hurt this kid as long as Bucky was with him, that was for damn sure.

Bucky grunted as he set Phantom down, taking note of the slow rise and fall of his chest. They were five miles away from the base Bucky had burned down, and now he was hot wiring a car. He needed to get this kid somewhere safe, and he only knew one place where he had a chance of being accepted.

The car started without a hitch and Bucky strapped Phantom into the backseat before he got back in and drove off.

Phantom woke up when they were maybe an hour from Stark's ugly ass tower. He hadn't really known how to contact any of them. He hadn't really tried either, but he was sure Steve would be over the damn moon at seeing Bucky's ugly mug again. Especially since the last time they saw each other Bucky beat Steve's face in.

Good times.

"Where are we?" Phantom groaned.

"New York," Bucky replied, not sparring a glance Phantom's way. "What's your name, kid?" He asked, because there was no way in hell his name was actually Phantom.

"Danny," he answered. Bucky nodded and stopped at a red light behind three other cars. "Where are you taking me?" He asked, worried.

"Old friend of mine. You ever want to meet the Avengers?"

"You're with the Avengers?!" Danny asked, excited. It was like a switch had been flipped, and now he was talking ninety miles an hour about superheroes and comic books and Captain America, and how he would kill to have a hammer as sweet as Thor's.

Bucky just nodded his head as the kid talked his ear off.

Bjkcy parked the car two streets down, so they would have to walk the rest of the way. Danny didn't seem to mind though. He looked glad to be stretching his legs a little bit. And while he was still thin and pale, he looked significantly better than when Bucky had found him two days prior. If it hadn't been for the steady breathing Bucky would have thought he was dead. And really, that would have been a fucking shame.

Nobody really looked at them twice, except one guy in a suit. He was broad, with short dark hair and a serious look in his eye. He walked up to them, and Bucky wanted to curse his luck as he pulled sleeve of his left arm down a little further. He couldn't have this guy ruining everything when the Avengers were the closest thing Danny would have to safety. At least until Bucky was sure it was safe for him to go home, wherever the hell that was.

"Who are you?" He asked. Bucky steppe din front of Danny defensively, automatically. Bucky figured it was because that's all he ever did with Steve, even when he became 240 lbs of All-American beef-cake.

"Steve is expecting us," he told the guy. "Tell him Bucky is here."

"Right, okay," the man said. He pulled out his cellphone though and tapped a few buttons before putting it up to his ear.

He told the other person on the line what Bucky had said, and then there was some nodding and a few facial expressions that would have been comical if it were a different situation. He nodded one last time before hanging up.

"Jarvis will take you all the way up to the living room floor," the security guard said. "And if you need anything else, feel free to call. The name is Happy."

"Right," Bucky said with a nod. "Thanks."

They stepped into the elevator, Bucky standing on one side and Danny on the other. They sat in a comfortable silence until they got to about five floors away, when Bucky stepped in front of the doors in case anybody decided to shoot at them. After all, he was sure nobody was going to welcome  _him_ with open arms.

The elevator doors dinged and opened without any annoying screech sounds, and the next few things seemed to happen all at once.

1\. Bucky was tackled by a large, blonde human with the personality of a lost puppy.

2\. Three guns were pulled on him, and he made sure they were only on him.

3\. Danny stepped forward, tripping over himself trying to see which Avengers had decided to meet them

4\. Danny almost got shot from surprising everybody because nobody expected to see him.

And really, that last one was Bucky's fault. But he didn't think about that. No, he just gave Steve a small smile when he pulled back, clapping a hand on the recovering Danny.

"This is Danny," he said, eyeing Sam, who still had two guns trained on him. The third came from his little spider, Natalia. She lowered her gun, but didn't put it away.

"I thought you said you were friends with them," Danny said. Sam snorted, and Bucky glared at him. Yeah, the last time they aw each other Bucky had destroyed his wings and Sparta-kicked him off of a hellicarrier, but that was hardly an excuse for him to be an ass.

"Sort of," Bucky replied. "Listen, kid, with these guys you'll be safe. I have some unfinished business to take care of," Bucky said, aiming that last part towards Steve. He had been following Bucky around the world with Sam for the past year, and he couldn't have that anymore. No, he needed to finish what he had started, and he couldn't have Steve, Sam, Danny-anybody in the way. "So be good, yeah?"

"Okay, Mom," Danny replied with a roll of his eyes. You would think he'd be more of a mental case only two days after escaping whatever facility that was, not some snot-nosed brat with a mouth on him. But Bucky couldn't help the wry smile that spread across his face. Danny reminded him of a certain kid from Brooklyn who was to stupid to turn the other way.

Bucky clapped Danny on the shoulder and pushed him forward a little bit, towards Natasha, and stepped back inside. But before the doors could close, Steve stepped inside too, and then they went down.

Danny looked around, stuffing his hand sin his pockets nervously. His fingers hit something small and plastic. He gripped it and brought it out, confused. When did this flash drive get there?

He looked back at the elevator, but Natasha had already taken it from his hand. Before he could protest, Sam stepped forward and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"So," he said easily. "Wanna see Thor's hammer?"


	72. What's it Like?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is from Danny's point of view. I kind of wanted to try something different this time around.

_What's it like?_

I always find myself getting asked this, whether it be from Tucker, Dani, Sam, or hell, even Valerie sometimes. And while it doesn't upset me, the question itself is hard to answer, and is tiring to do so after having to do it so many times.

So what is it like living with the Avengers?

It's indescribable, really. It's fun, and annoying, and stressful, and happy, and so many other words, so I think the only way I can properly tell you is if I list them all off one by one.

Well, let me tell you.

First, I guess I should start with the host himself, Tony Stark. Though you probably know him better as Iron Man.

He's everything people say he is, and more. He's selfish and sarcastic, and is stupidly smart. Yeah, he's also a playboy, and he never focuses on the important stuff for his company. Instead he pays with desk toys in important meetings.

Like all of us, Tony has a lot of baggage. We all have our demons, but Tony's are arguably the worst. Yeah, I fought my older evil self and the ghost king, and Steve was in World War II, but compared to Tony it was a cakewalk. Because Tony's been through a fucking blender. He's got serious PTSD from the Incident, from the cave he was tortured in, and a few other things. He copes by drinking unhealthy amounts of coffee spiked with alcohol and monster energy drinks while building several more Iron man armors, all with their own special skills and weapons.

He also has really bad attachment issues due to his father was never really around, and the father figure he did had tried to kill him. So.

However, despite all of that, Tony is probably the most caring person on the team. And that's including Steve. He just doesn't know how to express it with emotions. So instead, he uses his actions. Thor mentioned one time that he needed to get more lavender (?) shampoo because he ran out, and now there's a cabinet full of them, just for the thunder god himself.

There was another time when Clint's hearing aids got blown up on a mission, and Tony made him everything-proof Stark hearing aids. Clint hasn't needed a new pair since. And he made Steve and Sam's rooms soundproof, so that when fireworks go off they can still enjoy the view, but now with less gunshot sounds.

Tony also really loves to nerd out, which brings me to my next friend, Dr. Bruce Banner. He's pretty soft spoken, until he starts talking about science. I remember the longest conversation I've had with him was when we were talking about space and NASA, which somehow ended up on a conversation of the horrible structure of hot dog buns? Not really sure what happened there...

Bruce always has great advice, and is always in like, a zen sort of mood. He's not nervous all the time like most people think. No, he's only fidgety around stressful people, like Fury or Ultron. Which is perfectly understandable considering if he gets to angry or freaked he starts looking a little green around the gills.

That being said, Bruce also makes the best tea on the Compound. Nobody knows what he does to it, but if you're having a rough day or something he's got your back. And he's always got Tony's back, too. I There was one time when Tony had been up for almost four days and Bruce had come in and put some headphones on Tony, and he passed out immediately. I helped him get Tony to his room, and Bruce kind of took it from there.

Hulk is pretty nice to. Though, to be fair the first time I met him he was pretty pissed because he couldn't hit me. But after he calmed down enough, I told him a couple of jokes and he kind of warmed up to me.

And I told him I could help get the glitter out of his hair.

He still doesn't know that it sparkles sometimes when crime-fighting. Nobody else has either, but that's only because they're to busy kicking ass themselves.

Steve is kind of like everybody's dream guy, even if you yourself are a straight guy. He is 240 pounds of All-American beefcake with a heart of gold. His hair is pretty soft too.

He's caring, but I've recently learned that he;s a little shit.

You would expect Captain America to be the perfect man, soldier, superhero, whatever. But he isn't. I don't even know where anybody got that idea.

This guy has a police record that's longer than a list of Mr. Lancer's book-swears. And he has the worst mouth on him. He stubbed his toe the other day and was cursing up a storm. However, he was cursing in Gaelic. I asked him about it and he said it was his first language due to his parents being Irish immigrants. I hadn't known that before, so that was really nice to know. But it also explained his accent. He had a lot of Brooklyn in it, but every now and then the Gaelic would slip through with it, making for a weird verbal cocktail that never sounded quite right.

He also has the worst mind out of all of us. It's worse than Tuckers. His mind may be the gutter, but Steve's is the fucking sewer. He was telling me about how he thought fondue equaled sexy times, and like? Literally, where did you make that connection? How many other foreign words has he heard and thought it was something sexual?

It shouldn't surprise me though, considering he was in the army.

I could go on and on about Steve's mouth and reckless behavior, but he, like Tony, has serious PTSD. A lot of it is from the war. He doesn't like fireworks or loud, sudden noises unless he's on the battlefield. There was one time I saw him mute a movie during a scene with a train, and I was going to ask him why, but then I saw that far away look in his eyes. It wasn't my place to pry.

There's also something about the sound of Tony's repulsors powering up, too. It makes Steve tense up like a cat every time he hears it.

His coping methods are a bit healthier than Tony's. He likes to draw his thoughts and feelings out. He's damn good at it to, and while that's a great thing, sometimes he falls asleep with them open, halfway done, and the shit he draws is so dark and depressing. I kind of worry about him sometimes.

But Sam's been helping him though a lot of it. He was stationed overseas for a while before coming back to the states, only to get caught up in the fight again a few years later. He didn't really seem to mind though. In fact, he seemed happy to do so. Whether or not that was from Captain America asking him to, or because he missed flying, I had no idea.

But I'll be damned if I ever go to the park with him again.

His name is Falcon. He has cool metal wings he uses to fly. That all makes sense, right?

 _So_   _how the fuck is he talking to pigeons?_

I am genuinely worried that one day Sam till take over the world with birds, and h will have them shit on people's cars and peck out the eyes of Hydra. Or something on the lines of that. However, if he is actually going to do that I think he needs a cooler bird.

Like a Falcon.

And as weird as that was, it doesn't match up to the awkwardness of meeting Natasha "Million Alias" Romanoff. She's as deadly as she is beautiful, and if I was into her in any way I would probably pay her to beat me up.

It never actually occurred to me that she's not always being a spy? I mean, yeah, she's always looking at the ulterior motive, because anyone with her background (which we will not speak of, so don;t even ask) would do the same. But she's also a shitposting meme generator and has a really popular vine account even though vine is dead? Then again this is Natasha we're talking about. I don;t wanna know how she does what she does.

She also steals clothes. SO far she's stolen one of Tony's hoodies, a pair of Clint's sweatpants, a scrunchie from Thor, and one of my old Dumpty Humpty shirts I got at a concert. She also cheats at Monopoly and Cards Against Humanity. I haven't figured out how she's done it, but I know she does. Nobody, and I mean  _nobody,_ can just fucking win seventeen times in a row. You;d have to be a mind reader to do that shit. Jesus.

She's terrifying, and honestly, every time I see her glare the fear of Thor runs through me, but a good portion of that goes away when she's around Clint. And honestly I can't blame her. Clint, out of all of the Avengers I live with, is probably the one I hang out with the most. He's super chill, and covered head to toe in bandages and has to have an entire pot of coffee just to stay awake. Also, he's deaf? I had no idea during the Battle of New York, but later I found out that it was because they had broken and his new ones hadn't come in yet. He's taught me a lot of sign language so far, and Tucker makes fun of me for practicing it when I'm back in Amity.

Clint also has a lot of nests.

He has one on top of the fridge, in the  _A_ that's on the outside of the building, a couple of key spots in the vents, and a board room on the 27th floor under the table because nobody ever uses it and it has a nice view of the sandwich shop right across the street. I'm sure he has more, but those are just the ones that I've found.

Also, his dog is not cuter than Cujo, don't listen to that asshole.

Even though Clint chooses to keep his hearing aids out half the time, he still knows when Thor has come back from Asgard. Every single time, no matter where we're at in the building, he just  _knows._ It's like a sixth sense. His head perks up, and he gets a dumb grin on his face, but then it quickly falls when he remembers that he ate the rest of the thunder god's poptarts.

Thor is really fun to be around. And while I haven't had a lot of quality bonding time with the dude, Dani has. They sit around and braid each other's hair all the time, talking about flowers and giant monsters and space. Really, they're best friends. And it's adorable.

Don't tell Jazz I said that.

There are aspects of Thor that remind me a little bit of all of the Avengers. Like Natasha, he can be cunning when he wants to. He's always got the munchies like Clint, and has great advice like Bruce. Similar to Tony he also struggles with his own demons. But he seems to be most like Steve.

That being said, they are both  _huge_ little shits.

See, Thor likes to prank people. Half the time he uses Mojo (I don;t know how to pronounce the hammer's name, okay) to fuck with us. I remember he and Natasha handing different house members his hammer while Natasha video taped it. He gets a huge kick out of watching us fall over. I remember when he did it to Steve, who was to zoned out in his paper to even realize what Thor had asked him to hold. He was gobsmacked for a whole week.

He hasn't done it to me yet, and I have no idea if that's because he hasn't gotten around to it or because he's still obsessed over me technically being royalty since I beat Pariah Dark, the former king. The first time we met he got down on one knee and  _bowed._ It was the most surreal experience of my life, and that's including when Tucker had to wear a chicken costume to a Dumpty Humpty concert because he lost a bet to Sam.

Every time he comes back from Asgard, we shake. But we don't shake like normal people. It's a sort of cultural thing. Instead of shaking hands we grip each other's forearms and squeeze. I kind of like doing that better than a handshake. It seems way cooler.

So, you ask me what it's like to live with the Avengers?

Living with them, it feels familiar, like it;s the one thing I've been missing my whole life.

It's  _family._


	73. Prison

Prison was not nice to Captain America's team.

They were beaten up and pushed around by guards without a grudge. Some of that was from the battle, and some of that was from being thrown into a maximum security prison. Sam, Scott, and Clint basically got off free compared to Wanda.

Out of the four of them she was the worst. They had taken her to another room and forced into a straight jacket and a shock collar. She had been gone for hours before they finally threw her in there with them, right next to the cell with the guy sleeping on his tiny cot. Clint tried to ask what had happened, but Wanda wouldn't speak. Instead, she just looked down, sitting against the wall and whiter than a sheet. Clint had a murderous rage shoot through him at the sight. Because Wanda hadn't just been arrested. She had been pretty much tortured.

They don't really know how long they had been down there, but nobody was talking. Instead they were entertaining themselves in their own way. Scott with his drumming, Sam with his pacing, and so on. But everything was disrupted when the man next to Wanda woke up, sitting up groggily. Clint and Sam, who were across from him, looked him over, only to find that he wasn't a man at all.

He was just a kid.

Scrawny little thing with a shock of black hair and dull, icy eyes. The collar around his neck looked a lot like Wanda's, but it wasn't exactly the same. No, this one was bright green and blinking at them.

The clothes he was wearing made him look bigger than he actually was, and that made them all worry for him. Because, while they've been in pretty bad shape for hours now, this kid must have been here for days. He wasn't restrained like Wanda though, and Sam couldn't tell if that was good or not.

The kid snuffed once before looking around, still groggy. His eyes widened slightly when he saw them. It was the most life they had seen in those eyes in the past minute or so since he's woken up.

"Who are you?" He asked. His voice was hoarse and quiet, and it made Clint wonder just how long that collar has been on. Long enough to start causing scabbing, from the looks of it.

"We're the Avengers, kid," Sam answered. The boy just nodded and let out a big yawn before swinging his legs over to the side and stranding up, stretching his thin frame like a cat before relaxing again and walking up to the window.

"Avengers, huh?" He asked. "What, did you not sign the Accords, either?"

"You know about that?" Scott asked. The kid rolled his eyes.

"International news, dude. I told them I wasn't going to sign it. I had no reason to, I mean. Shit, I never left my city. But they decided to throw away the key anyway. Go figure, right?"

"What's your name, kid?" Clint asked. He was standing at the window too, now.

"Well, not Kid. It's Danny," he answered.

"So you're a superhero?" Sam asked. If he refused to sign the Accords that meant he did some world-saving of his own. Danny was silent, but he nodded hesitantly before looking Sam in the eye.

"Yeah. I, uh...I have powers. This collar though," he gestured to the thing around his neck. "This collar prevents me from using any of them. And if I try it automatically shocks me. So, yeah."

"It doesn't look like it's from the government."

"Oh, it is. Maybe not from this particular branch, but there's a government agency nicknamed the Guys in White. Nasty people. Full of idiots, too, but they have their moments."

"What do they do?"

"Well...You're not going to believe me," Danny answered.

"Kid, one of my best friends is Captain America, and his war buddy just came back from the dead two years ago. I'm sure you can trust me to keep an open mind."

"...You make a fair point, I guess. And it looks like we're going to be here a while. Okay, um...Do you believe in ghosts?"

"You're a ghost?" Scott asked.

"Yeah. Well, half ghost. A halfa. I, uh, protect my town from invasions and shit. There was actually a couple days where the city ended up sucked into the Ghost Zone and I had to save them, so that was fun."

"What the hell are you-" Clint started, but was cut off by the doors sliding open.

And in walked Tony Stark.

Everyone but Danny seemed to immediately tense up as Tony walked around, stopping in front of each of them. He glanced over Wanda, brought up Clint's family, and disrespected Scott. He stopped completely at Danny, though.

"Who are you?" He asked, his brows coming together as he looked Danny up and down. Danny chuckled and shook his head, sitting back down as he did so.

"You think the Avengers were the only heroes out there, Stark?" He asked. And wow, for a teenager he looked pretty old, what with those eyes that looked like he had been through wars. "This is what I get for being the good guy, right? Load of crap. Tucker will be really disappointed, let me tell you."

Tony opened his mouth to say something, but instead closed it and moved on to Sam, who had his back turned to him. He couldn't think about kids in prison. Because what if that was Peter? This kid though, he hadn't picked a side. He had carved out his own little corner of the world to protect, and though the Accords it was ripped from him. Tony kept telling himself it was the boy's fault. If he's in here that means he didn't sign the Accords. It was his own fault.

He was still thinking about the kid when he got the information from Sam that he needed.

* * *

 

"Someone's coming," Danny said, perking up. The hairs on his arms were standing up as he himself stood up, walking up to the glass. Sam turned around at that, and Danny saw the smirk on his face as a big blonde walked up to him.

"Hey, man. Nice vacation?" Sam asked. The other man didn't say anything. He just chuckled and punched the control panel next to Sam's cell. The glass slid open.

He did that with all of them, one by one. When he got to Wanda he gripped her collar tight and tore it in half with just his brute strength. Clint took over and cut her out of her straight jacket.

"Are we gonna get Danny, too?" Scott asked. Steve turned around, and it was like the super soldier was seeing him for the first time. Sam grinned at him.

"Told you Captain America was one of my best friends," he said with a shit-eating grin. Danny returned it was a small one of his own.

That seemed to be all that Steve Rogers needed, his decision on breaking Danny out with them concrete. The panel sparked and sputtered, and the glass slid open. Danny stepped out, holding his hand out. Steve shook it.

"It's an honor to meet you, sir," he said. Steve nodded and let go. Danny didn't take it personally though. He wasn't really well known, and they were kind of in the middle of a prison break.

Steve gripped his collar like he did Wanda's and looked him dead in the eye as he tore it apart.

"Don;t try anything," he said. Danny only nodded in response, glad to finally be able to breathe properly again. He smiled as he rubbed his neck, raw and sore from the thing hindering him.

"Do you have an escape plan?" Danny asked. Steve shrugged.

"Plane I came in on probably got locked down," he answered. "It shouldn't be any trouble stealing it back though."

Danny nodded, letting his transformation rings wash over him. Black to white, blue to green, prison clothes to jumpsuit. A complete transformation. Everybody's eyes were wide, and Danny smirked, jumping up into the air and letting his legs turn into a wispy tail.

"I think I can help with that."


	74. Demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is from OC week from Shadowdragon1553 on tumblr

Spider-Man and Phantom had been friends for years, and would probably be friends for the rest of their lives, but that didn't mean they couldn't add someone else to their group that Nick Fury himself asked them to take care of.

It was an old Hydra facility that would only need a small squad-Danny, Spidey, and Demon. And while they hadn't known the mutant for very long, they already considered her to be a close friend.

Her eyes were a piercing yellow, which contrasted greatly with her dark hair. Her horns pulled back slightly and curled at the end, and they were black just like her large, dragon-like wings that were folded close to her. They made her yellow tac-shirt brighter in the pitch black that always came with night.

"So, what's the plan?" Phantom asked, looking over at Demon and Spidey.

"We could have you go in and disable security," Demon suggested. "Spider-Man and I will wait out here for the signal."

"Wait, there's a signal?" Spider-Man asked. "What's your signal, dude?"

"Uh," Danny ran a hand through his hair as he looked at Peter and Sasha, his shoulders tight. "You'll know it when you see it?"

"It's probably going to be some sort of explosion," Demon teased. Phantom couldn't deny the truth of the statement.

"True," Spidey agreed. "Is your comm link on?" He asked them. They both nodded, and Danny gave a two-fingered salute before turning invisible and leaving the both of them alone. Spider-Man turned to Demon. "Thanks for helping us out with this," he said. His face was covered by his iconic mask, but she was sure there was a sort of sincere look under it. "We really appreciate it."

"No problem, dude," she replied.

It was a mission sent from Fury, but it had been the boy's mission-not hers. Not until they accidentally crash landed on Xavier's lawn and asked for her assistance. A mission being from Fury was the exact reason Logan hadn't really wanted her to go, but it's not like he could stop her. She was almost an adult and more stubborn than him in a few ways. If her friends needed her help then she was going-no questions asked.

She always found herself looking back on the first time they met. She had been flying over Manhattan when a group of mutant protesters grounded her. Thankfully, though, Phantom and Spider-Man had been right around the corner before anything to bad could have happened. She's sure that the group was still scarred for life from Danny's blatant anger. It was the only time she had ever seen the ghost boy angry. Sure, she purposely pressed a few of his buttons, but legitimately so angry he was practically spitting? That was rare. She was glad to say she found Spidey to be the same way.

They had quickly become fast friends, joined at the hip every chance they got. Whether it was pizza or explosions, just being able to hang out with people outside of the mansion who weren't mutants or normal people was really nice. She loved them, really, she did. But Demon had always had a craving for new things. And right now, their friendship was still kind of new.

They waited, watching the guards in a silence that wasn't uncomfortable. Part of this was from them trying to focus, and the other was due to the lack of nothing to really say. Nothing that had to be said. It wasn't like those movies where they were uncomfortable around each other and they try to break the awkward silence by making it more awkward. This peace, it was nice. It was the calm before a storm, they both knew, but Sasha was going to try to cherish it as much as she could before Danny's signal.

It didn't take long. Only a few short minutes at the least, and really, Demon couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. A part of her was kind of glad it wasn't an explosion, though. Phantom had taken down the security, which had in turn made the guards on the outside collapse.

"Is that the signal?" Demon asked over the comm.

"The guards are life model decoys?" Spider-Man asked, slowly standing up.

 _"Yeah. You can thank Tucker for that,"_ Phantom's voice crackled in her ear. She didn't know who Tucker was, but that didn't stop her from mentally thanking him.  _"Come on in, we don't have much time."_

Demon nodded, a small part of her aware that Phantom couldn't see it. But Spider-Man could, and that was all the warning he needed before he lifted his arms up. Without hesitation, and with complete ease, Demon jumped into the air, letting her wings carry her as she hoisted the flightless spider into the air and into the large doors. Phantom was waiting for them on the inside, a panicked look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Demon asked.

"We, uh," he started. "We might have a small problem. As in, I was informed that all of the guards were droids."

"And?" Spider-Man asked. Phantom pointed behind him, a sheepish look on his face.

"I may or may not misheard due to a taco being thrown at me. Um, it turns out the only ones that are droids are the ones guarding the outside. So..."

And then Demon heard it. The thundering of a hundred steps, coming closer and closer with each passing second. She sighed and set Spider-Man down, shaking her head at Phantom.

"I swear, I'm going to die being surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Rude," Spidey said, placing a hand on his hip.

"Yeah, but is she wrong?" Phantom shot back, turning to face the hallway. The Hydra goons were practically on top of them now. His fists started glowing the eerie green that followed Phantom like a shadow. Spider-Man and Demon got into their own fighting stances, getting ready for the big showdown. Demon smirked and barred her fangs and claws.

_Oh, this is going to be fun._


	75. Escape (Not the Pina Coloda Type)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And another for oc week, submitted by shadowdragon1553 on tumblr

Danny had always prided himself on always being able to make a quick getaway if the need be, no matter the circumstance.

However, this is a circumstance he hadn't quite figured his way out of yet.

It had happened on a beautiful Tuesday morning. The sun had been high in the sky, he had no school, and he was going to be able to hang out with some of his  _special_ friends. The only thing bad that had happened to him was a bird pooping on his head.

And really, knowing Danny that should have been his first warning to go back inside and not go out for the rest of the day.

He had been doing one last patrol over Amity when they came. Several big, white vans and twenty some-odd guards. He likes to tell himself that the only reason they had caught him was because they had caught him off guard, but Danny knew the real truth. He had gotten to cocky, because it was the  _Guys in White,_ like, how threatening could they actually be?

Well, plenty threatening if you get caught.

He didn't know how long he had been there, but it already felt like an eternity. He hadn't slept, and he'd barely eaten anything. Double that up with round the clock torture, and you had the remains of a very depressed Phantom questioning his life choices in between experiments.

Danny, needless to say, was not happy about his predicament.

Every bone in his body hurt, and he hadn't told the Avengers he was stopping by. It was more of a surprise visit, so they had no idea he was in trouble. Dani was off around the world, Sam was in France with her parents, and Tucker at the Grand Canyon. His parents were always oblivious, so really the only person he was counting on was Jazz, but a part of him prayed to Clockwork that she didn't get herself involved. Not against these guys, who wouldn't hesitate to tear her apart. No, he would have to figure out a way to get out of this himself.

He had tried memorizing the guards rounds but they change the time every day, so there's no telling when one of them would leave or come back. And the collar he wore prevented him from using any of his powers, meaning he couldn't fly or turn invisible or use a small ghost ray from his finger to take out the four security cameras in his tiny cell, invading his privacy and keeping an eye on  _literally_ every move he made. The guys up in the security room sure had a lot of fun with  _that._ Danny didn't know how much longer he had until his neck spontaneously combusted from how much electricity they zapped him with every time they had a reason to. And, unfortunately for him, those reasons could have been microscopic and just an excuse to hurt him, whether he had done what they had claimed or not.

He rested his head against the wall behind him and closed his eyes, taking note of the pinching of his wrists from the cuffs, and the burning around his neck he would have a hard time explaining to his parents when they saw him again. If they saw him again. But surely this couldn't be a permanent set up. He would find a way out.

He was suddenly knocked out of his thoughts by a thundering boom and the alarms blaring in his sensitive ears. Several guards were immediately flooding his cell, pointing large guns at his face. The whined as they powered up, and it briefly reminded him of Iron Man's suit. Man, Danny would kill to have a cool suit like that at the moment. Instead, he watched as one of the guards aimed his gun at the other guards and incapacitated them with a few quick shots. Then he suddenly collapsed, and a ghost appeared.

It wasn't one he had met before. She looked to be a teenager, with a black dress that would have probably gone to mid-thigh if she was using legs instead of her transparent tail, and a choker around her neck. She had big, round eyes, and long hair that went to the middle of her back. He watched, frozen in place by the ghost as her tail wrapped around a leg. A  _human_ leg. He looked over to see another girl. She wore a purple shirt with a bullet-proof vest over it, and a pair of jeans. Her blonde hair was in a ponytail, and she gave the ghost wrapped around her leg a smile. She picked up one of the guns the guards had dropped.

"You're Phantom, right?" She asked. Danny nodded, still numb from this surreal experience.

This...This was a breakout. He was breaking out. He was going to go  _home._ Danny could have cheered right then and there as the realization hit him in the face harder than Hulk ever could.

"Who...Who are you?" He asked after his initial excitement wore down a few moments later. He was still on the ground, shackled to the wall by his wrists.

"My name is Tara, and this is my friend, Bell," the human girl replied. She dug a remote out of her pocket and pointed it at Danny, clicking the green button on it a few times. And like magic, his wrists and neck were free. It truly was amazing.

"How did you know to do that?" He asked her as he rubbed his sore wrists. He then used the wall to help him up, giving Tara a look that showed gratitude and suspicion all at the same time. "How did you even know I was here?"

"Because," she smiled, not taking his suspicion personally, "My dad can't keep his mouth shut. Now are you coming or what?"

"Y-Shit, I guess, yeah," Danny replied. He grunted as he took his first steps. He hadn't realized how really exhausted he was until now. Maybe he could fix that though...

Tara's eyes widened as he let the transformation rings wash over him, turning him into Phantom. She turned to Bell.

"Can you do that?" She asked, excited. Bell smiled and shook her head, tightening her tail around Tara's thigh. Danny decided that he wasn't going to question it. However,that didn't mean didn't have questions. For instance,

"What do you mean your dad can't keep his mouth shut?" He asked her. Tara shrugged, suddenly looking just a bit sheepish as she led them through the maze.

"Uh...My dad works here..." she said. "But I don;t really agree with it. This place. Him. I mean, ghosts are great. Just look at Bell!" Danny didn't. And he almost considered taking her down, but then reconsidered. She had helped him. Why would she do that if she shared her father's views? She wouldn't have. Not unless she hated ghosts half as much as the Guys in White did.

They ran in silence, minus the occasional warning of a guard being in their way, which either of them took down easily. Within a few short minutes they were outside. The alarms were still going off, and the lights were still blinding, but he couldn't help but drop to his knees and into the hard dirt. When was the last time he had been outside? When was the last time he had seen the stars, or flew on cool nights in Amity that were exactly like this one? It was...Beautiful, to say the least.

"Come on," Tara told him. now that they were out of the facility, she seemed more reserved and calm like Bell. Danny nodded and stood back up, easily taking to the air. Bell picked Tara up and followed him away from the Guys in White facility.

"Thank you," he said. The had slowed down after a few miles. It would take them a while to catch up, and recapture him, despite his injuries. But now that the collar was off he was healing much quicker, and the pain in his bones lessened. "I couldn't...I wouldn't have gotten out of there if it hadn't been for you guys."

Tara gave him a soft smile, nodding her head and shrugging.

"I'm happy to do so, Phantom," she told him. "Besides, the Avengers kind of got boring to watch without you with them."

Right. The Avengers.  _Shit._

"I'm glad to know I'm the cute one,: he told her instead. She laughed, and it kind of reminded him of sunshine. He told himself it was because he hadn't heard normal laughter in forever. It made him grin though, nonetheless. Once her laughter died down, he sighed and smiled, looking from her to the sky, which was filled with countless stars.

"Thank you, Tara."


End file.
